


My Sister's Boyfriend

by 1DinNeverland



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 62,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1613393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1DinNeverland/pseuds/1DinNeverland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When you love someone, like I, love him then you, will understand. You will understand because every fiber of your entire being is telling you have to be with them, it hurts every time that you are away from them. It feels as if all the air is sucked out of your lungs if you so much as see them with another, and every time you touch you feel their warmth radiating through your body, sending tingles everywhere. And when you kiss, oh when you kiss it is like you were made for each other, the fireworks go off and the world melts away. I was selfish and I needed him. I needed him so much it hurt.<br/>*********************************************************************************************************************<br/>Have you ever been in love with someone so much that it hurts? Well that it what Allie feels everyday. Why? She is in love with her best friend; she has been for a while now. Who is it? The one and only Harry Styles. To make matters worse, when she finally gets the courage to tell him how she feels, he is already taken by none other than her own sister! Is all hope lost for her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Calm Before the Storm

I love him…

I woke up to my alarm clock going off. I sat up and looked out the window. It was clear and sunny, a rare combination in London. Today was the day; I could feel it. I was going to tell him. I knew there was a chance he would reject me and it scared the hell out of me, but I couldn’t keep living like this. I just couldn’t keep bottling up my true feelings towards him; I had to know if he felt the same.  I stretched and got out of bed. I shuffled into the bathroom and turned on the shower. My bathroom was an average size. It had cream tile flooring, a glass encased shower in the corner with a silver towel rack on the wall next to it with purple and cream towels, and a white toilet right next to the sink. There was a huge mirror on the wall above the sink. The sink counter was filled with my makeup and other beauty products because I was too lazy to put them away. I stripped and jumped in the shower. The warm water cascading down my back, soothing me for the day that was about to come. I finished rather quickly and turned off the water. I wrapped myself in a towel and got out. I stood in front of the mirror staring at my reflection. My brown hair reached just below my shoulders and when it was dry it had a slight wave to it. My eyes were brown and dull. My skin was pale, a little too pale for my liking but there isn’t much sun here. I was in shape and had some curves. I was average. _Why would he want you when he can have someone ten times prettier?_ I dashed those thoughts from my mind. I couldn’t think like that, not today. I went out and picked out a long cream knitted jumper with dark jeans and black converse. I finished getting dressed, putting on some light makeup, and my hair into a loose side braid. My phone buzzed, it was from him.

**See you soon :)**

These past couple of years have been crazy. I should probably tell you who he is; He is my best friend, Harry. Yeah the Harry Styles from One Direction. We been best friends since the day I moved to Holmes Chapel from California when I was ten. I was sitting under a tree, all alone, feeling sorry for myself, when he came up to me and sat down next to me. We started talking and the rest is history. I was there for it all, the audition, the creation of One Direction, them losing the X-Factor, and when they got their record deal. I became good friends with all of the boys, Louis probably the most, besides Harry of course. I had other friends who were girls, but we weren’t as good friends as I was with the boys. Being friends with the boys, I did get hate, but I tried to not let it get to me. Also not having a twitter helped some. I was too lazy to have a Twitter and I just never really got the point of it. When Harry moved to London, my family soon followed because of my mom’s job. I’m currently eighteen and I have not been in love with him for that long, I only found out my feelings for him last year. I don’t know why, it was just a typical day we were on his couch watching a movie. I looked over at him and then BAM!! I had an epiphany. I loved him. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t true, dating a couple of guys just to get my mind off him, but it all led back to him. I had a chance to tell him three months ago, but I chickened out. I was not going to chicken out again. The only people who knew I felt this way about Harry was my mom and Louis. I spilled everything to him, I just couldn’t help it and I needed help from someone that wasn’t my mother. I looked around my room making sure I had everything (AN: Attached is a picture of Allie’s room) and walked out. I climbed down the stairs and went to the kitchen. Our kitchen had black cabinets with silver handles, a silver fridge, stove, and sink, and black countertops. We had a bar with black stools that connected the kitchen to the dining room. My mom and sister were sitting on the stools, fawning over some cookbook.

“Bye Mom, Bye Jess.” I called out to them. I started walking to the door. “Where are you going?” My mom asked. I stopped in my tracks.

“To the park with Harry.”

My sister eyed me suspiciously. _What’s wrong with her?_ She was my fraternal twin. Every time we told people we were twins no one believed us, because we looked nothing alike. She had sleek black hair that matched my dad’s, tan skin, and my mother’s green eyes. She was absolutely stunning and could get any boy she wanted. Our personalities were complete opposites, she was loud and outspoken, while I was quiet and shy. I partied but she partied harder. I was socially awkward and she was well, a social butterfly. I couldn’t figure out sometimes why the boys had become friends with me in the first place. The one bad thing about my sister was that she could be a real bitch. I love her more then anything and I know that she means well, but she doesn’t stop until she gets what she wants. She has trampled me a few times and I just let her because well I guess I didn’t really care about it.

“Have fun.”

“Don’t forget to be home in time for lunch, my boyfriend is coming over to meet everyone.” Jess said.

Ugh, her and her boyfriends. She had a new one almost every month and they were complete tools. It’s been almost a year since she brought the last one home. That was a complete disaster; Dad threw a huge fit and kicked him out. The boy was asking for it when he called my mom a bitch. This one must be special if she wants to risk that happening again.

“I won’t forget.”

 I left my house and walked the ten blocks to our park. I loved our park. It had well kept paths lined with trees, clean cut grass and benches every once in awhile. I plopped myself down on a bench and texted Harry where I was. My phone buzzed.

From Wild Child (Louis):

     **Did u tell him yet?**

To Wild Child:

     **Not yet. I just got here. Lou I’m scared.**

Wild Child:

     **Don’t b; everything is going 2 b okay. U can do this.**

To Wild Child:

**Thanks :)**

Wild Child:

**Anytime**

I pocketed my phone and looked up into the trees. I can do this. I can do this.

“Hello Beautiful.” Harry said, jarring me from my thoughts. My heart started to pound so hard I thought it was going to burst from my chest. I smiled up at him.  His curly hair was swept to the left and his piercing green eyes shone. He had on a white t-shirt with a black blazer, black pants and white converse.

“Hey Haze. A little dressed up aren’t we? Where’s your beanie?” He shrugged and sat down on the bench next to me. “Oh I see someone didn’t get laid last night did they.” I teased.

His eyes went wide. “Allie!”

“What?” I raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to continue.

“Never mind.” He mumbled.

“Anyway, so what’s new?”

“Allie you do realize I saw you last night. What do you think could have possibly happened in that time?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe you were captured by aliens and probed or maybe you found out you could fly. Ooo maybe Hagrid came and told you were a wizard.”

He laughed. _God I loved his laugh. Snap out of it Allie! You have a mission remember. Focus!_

“You got me. I am wizard.”

“I knew it!”

We sat for a little while longer, talking on the bench. I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to do it now or I would chicken out again.

“Hey do you wanna go for a walk?”

He smiled. “Sure”

We got off the bench and started walking down the path. We walked in silence for a few minutes. Harry looked at me. _It’s now or never._

“Harry I…”

“Allie I…” He said cutting me off. We laughed.

“You go first.” I told him.

“Allie I have something to tell you.” _Funny, I have to tell you something to._ “Allie I’m-“

My phone blared out Live While We're Young. I groaned.

“Hold on one second.” I answered the phone. “Hello”

“Allie I need you to come home right now.” Jess said.

“I’m kind of busy right now.”

“But I need you to cook lunch.” She whined.

“Cook it yourself” I hissed.

“PLEASE I want it to be special.”

“Ask mom to do it.”

“But you’re the best cook. Please.”

I sighed, “Fine I’ll be there in five.”

I hung up the phone and faced Harry. “Everything okay? “

“Yea, but I got to go. Jess wants me to cook for her boyfriend. And then after all my hard work is done she tells him she did it and gets all the glory. I just hope this one’s not a tool like the last guy. “ Harry stiffened. “You okay?”

“Yea I’m fine. You better get going; you have a wonderful lunch to cook. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, See ya.”

I gave him a hug goodbye, taking in his scent. _Mmm he smells good. Allie stop being a freakin’ weirdo and let go._ I reluctantly let go and walked out of the park and to my house.

I walked in calling out, “I’m home.”

  My mom popped out of the kitchen. “Allie what are you doing back so soon?”

“Jess called and asked me to do the cooking.”

“But we are already done.”

“What? If you’re already done then why did she call?” My mom shrugged. Something didn’t seem right with this day. Jess was acting weird and more manipulative than usual, something was up.

“Jess can you come here please?” My mom called out.

Jess came sauntering down the steps in dark skinny jeans, black strappy heels and a red halter-top. “What?”

“Don’t use that tone with me.” She rolled her eyes. “Now why did you call your sister when we were already done?”

“I must have forgotten that we were done.” Jess innocently said. I rolled my eyes at her. “And there’s no harm done.”

“Yes there is, you knew that I was with Harry. He is going on tour soon, we are trying to spend as much time together as we can before he leaves.”

“Oh is he, must have slipped my mind.”

I groaned and looked at my mom. “You aren’t buying this are you?” I could tell by the way she was eyeing my sister that she didn’t believe her for one minute, which gave me some comfort. My mom didn’t respond so I turned to Jess. “I’m so done with you right now, I’ll be up in my room. Tell me when he gets here.”  

I went upstairs and straight to my room. I closed the door behind me and sighed. I was so close to telling him, but then Jess had to ruin it. I was counting the days till their tour started and dreading every second. And now, thanks to Jess, I missed my chance once again. I was running out of time. I tried to keep my mind off of Harry and decided to read a book. I knew better than to go on my computer, because everywhere I looked he seemed to pop up. I swear sometimes he was stalking me. Ha, wouldn’t that be nice. I lied down on my bed and let myself get lost in the book.

Way too soon, I heard my mother calling out, “Allie he’s almost here, come downstairs!”

I groaned and reluctantly put down my book, making sure I didn’t lose my spot. I dragged myself downstairs to our living room. The room was painted a light blue-gray color. We had a cream L-shaped couch with light cream-brown pillows, situated against the wall facing a flat screen T.V. The windows had sheer white curtains and a glass coffee table before the couch. My parents sat with Jess on the couch. I plopped down next to my dad.

“How was work?”

“It was-“ He started to say, the doorbell rang cutting him off.

“He’s here!” Jess squealed, running to the door. _Kill me now._ We heard the door open and footsteps coming our way. I had my gaze fixed on the clock hanging on the wall, counting how much longer I would be going through this torture. “Mom, Dad this is my boyfriend. “

 _Here we go._ I stood and turned to face them. My eyes went wide and a gasp escaped my lips.


	2. The Worst Day of My Life

My jaw dropped. Harry was my sister's new boyfriend! Why didn’t he tell me? How long was this going on? How could she do this to me? I felt my heart break into millions of pieces, and then put through a blender. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"That's great. I'm happy for you." I weakly smiled.

My mom looked at me with concern. I couldn't breathe, I felt like all the air was sucked from my lungs. Jess smiled at Harry and pulled his lips to hers. My heart dropped. My eyes started to get hot, I knew what was coming and I had to get out of here. She pulled away from him, a satisfied look on her face. She looked towards me.

“Allie are you alright? You don’t look too good.” Jess asked, concern filling her voice. There was something about the way she looked at me that was off putting.

"I need some air." My voice cracking at the end.

I hurriedly walked past them, keeping my head down so they wouldn't see the tears threatening to fall, and out the door.  

"Allie!" Harry called.

I ignored him and ran. I just ran and never looked back. The tears were flowing freely now, blinding me, as I ran to God knows where. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I fell to the ground sobbing, clutching at my chest. I couldn't breathe. It hurt, everything just hurt. I loved him more then anything and my sister took that away from me. How could she? I assumed people were staring, but I didn't care. At that moment, I wanted to die. My heart was torn away from me leaving me hollow inside. The pain was so great, that I felt numb inside.

"Allie?" A voice tentatively asked.

I looked up at a boy with bright blue eyes and tanned skin. His hair was slightly quiffed and he wore a red and white striped shirt with red pants and suspenders. He had on a pair of red Toms. _Louis._ He stooped down to my level. He cupped my face in his hands and brushed the tears away. His eyes filled with worry.

"What's the matter love?" I couldn't speak. I just blankly stared at him. "Please tell me."

I looked away from him and stared at the floor, sobbing. He sighed and scooped me up into his arms. I clung to him, burrowing my face in his neck. He carried me into the building. Only then did I faintly realize where I was. I had ran all the way to Louis' flat. He went into the lift and slightly shifted me so he could push the button. The tears kept flowing the whole way to his flat. I'd soaked his shoulder with my tears. Thankfully he didn't say anything. He unlocked it and opened the door. He carried me to the bedroom and laid me down on the bed. I curled up on my side, hugging my knees to my chest.

He sat down and sighed, "Allie, please tell me what happened? Did you tell him? Is that why you’re upset?"

I didn't reply. I just stared off into space, wishing I could go back to three months ago when I had the chance to tell him and chickened out. Go back when we were carefree and happy, and I had hope, hope that he loved me. But that hope is gone, crushed by my own sister. I let out another sob and my head started to pound from the lack of water in my body. Louis was still sitting there looking at me with concern and worry. He brushed the hair back from my face and tucked it behind my ear.

"Allie please. It scares me to see you like this." His voice filled with pain and worry.

I shifted slightly, sitting up with my back leaning against the headboard. I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Lou can I have some water?" I said, my voice trembling and hoarse from all the sobbing.

He smiled. "Sure luv."

He walked out of the room and returned shortly with a glass of water. He handed me the cup. I took it from him, mumbling a thank you. I greedily sucked it down. When I felt a little better I placed in on the nightstand. I felt a few tears stream down my cheeks as I opened my mouth.

My voice cracking,  "Lou he's dating her."

"Dating who?"

"Jess"

"Your sister?"

I nodded, full out crying now. I let out a mangled cry. Louis didn't say anything; he just wrapped me in his arms and held me tight. I sobbed into his shirt. Their kiss playing over and over again in my mind.

"Why? I don't understand, why me? How could she do this to me?" Louis still didn’t speak. He rubbed my back as I let it all out. “And I didn’t even tell him.”

Louis moved me off his shoulder and looked me in the eye. “You mean he still doesn’t know?” I nodded. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

“I had to go before I had a chance and now its too late.”

  He held me again. “Its okay luv, everything is going to be okay.” I felt something inside me snap. I pushed him off me and rose to my feet.

“How can you say that? The boy I love was taken from me, by my own sister! MY OWN SISTER! She ripped my heart out and you’re here telling me it’s going to be okay? How is it going to be okay Louis?! Any hope of us ever being together is gone!” I yelled, tears streaming down my face. I fell to the ground sobbing. _Why me? What the hell did I ever do to deserve this?_ After what felt like hours, I calmed down a bit. “I’m sorry Lou. I shouldn’t have snapped.” He slid off the bed and sat down in front of me.

“Don’t be. I understand that you’re hurt.” This side of Louis is what I loved about him; it showed that he was so much more than the walking entity of sass.  His phone went off. “It’s your mother.” He answered the phone, “Hi Mrs. Matthews...Yea she’s here. Do you want to talk to her?” I shook my head at Louis. He put his phone to his chest. “I’ll be right back.”

He got up and into the hall. After a talking with my mom for twenty minutes, he came back in. He crouched down next to me. “You’re mom’s worried about you Allie. I told her that you probably didn’t want to come home and that you’re spending the night here.”

I was exhausted and completely drained. Louis must have seen this, for he picked me up and tucked me into bed. “Just sleep now, love.” He started to walk out of the room.

“Lou.” He stopped in the doorway and turned around. “Thank you for everything.”

He smiled. “Anytime luv”

And with that he left. I was numb and hollow inside. _Why do the people we care about the most always seem to hurt us the most?_ I felt new tears stream down my cheeks, as I cried myself to sleep.


	3. I Love Her

**Louis P.O.V.**

I stood in the doorway, watching her figure shake with quiet sobs as she cried herself to sleep. I hated to see her so broken. How could he fucking do that to her?! He might not know about how she feels, but to go out with her own sister and not tell her?! Anger clouded my vision. How dare he! I slammed my fist against the wall. My hands started to ache, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was her. I walked over to her sleeping figure and looked down at her, so beautiful, sweet, and funny. She didn’t deserve any of this. She didn’t deserve to go through what I went through. I remember every painstaking moment of the worst day of my life...

... _”Lou I have something to tell you.” Allie said._

_“What is it?” I asked._

_“Will you promise that whatever I say doesn’t leave this room, that you don’t tell a soul not even Harry.” She doesn’t want me to tell Harry, this must be serious, I thought. Hope filled me and my heart skipped a beat in the expectation of what she was going to say next._

_“I promise.”_

_“I’m in love with Harry.”_

_My heart dropped, breaking in two. I put on a fake smile, faking happiness for her…_

            I fell in love with her, the moment I met her. It killed me inside when I found out she loved Harry. I tried getting over her, but every time I came running right back to her. She is so beautiful, and she doesn’t even know it, which just makes me love her more. What I loved most was that she was so kind, helping anyone no matter what. She would always help her sister no matter how big of a bitch she was. That was her only flaw, helping her. How could Jess do that to her? I couldn’t imagine a single one of my sisters doing that to each other, not like I let any boy near them. Maybe this was a sign that there was hope for us after all. No, I couldn’t think like that. I was being selfish, trying to sway her, when she was so vulnerable. I brushed the hair out of her face. My heart started to pound, she was so beautiful. What she needed most right now was a friend. Finding her on the ground like that scared the shit out of me. To see her clutching her chest sobbing, looking so broken. She is such a strong person and to see her that broken, it broke my heart. How long would she have been there if I hadn’t come? I thank God that I found her when I did. I’ll go to the shop tomorrow. Right now I need to be here with her. Another sob escaped her lips. I stooped down and kissed her forehead. She sighed, a smile on her lips. To see her happy, even though it kills me that it is not me with that’s with her, is all I want. I will be there for her, no matter what. I’ll do it because I love her.


	4. The Living Nightmare

_I looked into his bright emerald eyes, “I love you Harry.”_

_He looked at me with disgust. He laughed, “How could I ever love you? You are the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. I could never love someone like you.”_

_Jess came up and shoved me to the ground. I landed in the mud, splattering all over me. “He has me now. How could you ever think you had a chance with him? This is where you belong.” She sneered. She held a knife in her hand. She handed to Harry. “You want to do the honors, baby?”_

_He smiled, taking the knife from her. He crashed his lips to hers. I tried to look away, but it was like I was frozen. He broke away, turning towards me “With pleasure.”_

_He raised the knife and plunged into my chest…._

            I woke up screaming my head off. Louis came running into the room. I stopped screaming and started sobbing. He came over to me and wrapped me in his arms.

            “Shh Allie, its okay it was only a dream.”

            But it wasn’t, I might not have been stabbed literally, but that it was what it felt like. I was living my nightmare and there was no way out. My poor mangled heart. I was pathetic, crying over a boy who didn’t even care. And that was what hurt the most, knowing that I could never have him. I hiccupped. I wiped the tears from my face and I looked Louis in the eye.

            “Lou, am I pathetic? Am I, for loving someone I knew I could never be with?”

            Pain filled his eyes. “Allie you are not pathetic. You will never be.”

            In that moment I believed him, but then my dream and their kiss flashed through my mind. He was wrong. I rested my head on his shoulder.

            “How about some breakfast?” He asked.

            “I’m not very hungry.”

            “Allie, you need to eat something. Now you are going to get ready while I make breakfast and you are going to eat it.”

            “Ha really now, you cook?” I looked at him with disbelief.

            Feigning hurt, “Are you saying I’m a terrible cook? Allie, how could you? Now my dreams of being Top Chef are over.” He cried, putting his head in his hands. I giggled. He looked up and smiled, “Go get ready.”

            I went to the bathroom and took a shower. The water pounded on my back, relaxing me and for a moment I forgot all my troubles. Too soon, it was time for me to get out. I stepped out and wrapped a huge towel around myself. I looked down at my clothes. _Crap what am I going to wear?_ I went to the door and opened it enough to stick my head out. I looked down the hallway for any sign of Louis.

            “Louis!” I yelled.

            His head popped up from around the corner. “What is it?”

            I felt my cheeks start to burn. “Umm do you have any clothes I can wear?”

            “Oh.” He walked over to the bathroom door. He looked me right in the eye and his eyes darkened, “You’re just going to have to go home naked!! Muhahahah!!!”

            I grabbed a brush off the counter and threw it at him. He dodged it while laughing his ass off.

            “Lou seriously what am I going to wear?

            “Would it really be that bad if you stayed like that? I wouldn’t mind.” His eyes filled with lust, as he looked me up and down. I felt my cheeks redden even more.

            “Lou” I groaned.

            He sighed, “Fine, have it your way. I’ll go get you some clothes.”

            He walked off and I closed the bathroom door. _Boys._ I blow-dried my hair, waiting for him to get back. When I had finished, I heard a knock at the door. I readjusted my towel and opened it a crack. I peeked out to see Louis holding a bundle of clothes for me to wear.

            “Here” He said while handing me the clothes.

            I took them from him and closed the door. I quickly got dressed and looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing acid washed jeans with a gray tank top and a black-cropped leather jacket. They were clearly girl’s clothes and they fit almost perfectly. _That’s strange._ I walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Louis had his back to me and was looking in the fridge. There were too bowls on the counter and boxes of cereal.

            “Louis whose clothes are these? Do you have a girlfriend you didn’t tell me about?”

            He looked back at me, away from the fridge. “No I don’t have a girlfriend.”

            I went over to him and grabbed his arm, pleading, “Come on Lou you can tell me. What’s her name?”

            “Seriously Allie I don’t have a girlfriend. Their your clothes.”

            “There mine? I don’t remember leaving them here.”

            “They are defiantly yours. You left them here the last time you stayed over. By the way I want my sweatpants back.”

            I had a faint relocation of the last time I stayed over. I looked him dead in the eye. “Well too bad they’re mine now!” I laughed manically.

            Louis smiled and laughed at me, before searching through the fridge again. I sat down on the counter and waited for Louis to be done. He poured some cereal and milk into the bowls and finished it off with two spoons. He picked them up and brought them over to where I was sitting.

            He twirled before setting them down, exclaiming “Ta-da!”

            I giggled and started to eat. He sat down next to me watching me eat. “Louis can you stop staring at me. It’s creepy.”

            “No, I will not. Now tell me how is it? Isn’t the best you ever had?”

            I shrugged my shoulders. “Eh I’ve had better.”

            He gasped and crumpled to the floor. “How could you say that about my master piece! My life is over, done, fineto! You killed me!”

            He started rocking, hugging his knees to his chest, crying, “I’m a failure!”

            He fell to the ground, lying still. I laughed at him. “Louis, come on get up.”

            “No I’m dead!”

            He suddenly shot up and grabbed my leg. My eyes went wide as I realized what he was doing. “Louis don’t you...”

            I couldn’t finish my protest before he pulled me to the ground with him. I screamed as I fell. I landed right on top of him, as he let out an oof. “Ha serves you right.” I giggled. I tried to get up but he pinned me to him.

            “You aren’t going anywhere. You dissed my masterpiece! Now you must face my wrath!” I rolled my eyes at him. “You’re going to be sorry you just did that.” He said as his eyes darkened.

            He flipped us over, so that he was on top of me, and started to tickle me.

            “No!” I screamed between burst of laughter. “Please stop!”

            “Say you’re sorry.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Sorry for what?”

            “For dissing your incredible amazingly wonderful masterpiece!”

            He stopped the torment and got off of me. “That’s amazingly incredible wonderful stupendous masterpiece to you.”

            He sat back down on the counter and started to eat. I sat up still giggling, trying to calm myself down. I looked up at the clock. It was almost eleven. I immediately sobered. I had to go home; I had to go sit and watch as Jess and Harry made lovey-dovey faces at each other. I felt new tears start to stream down my cheeks. I got up and tried to make a break for the bathroom. I let out a sniffle, causing Louis to turn and look at me. His eyes filled with worry as he saw my tears. I quickly ran back to the bathroom, but Louis was quicker. He grabbed a hold of me and made me face him. I didn’t want to look at him. I was having fun and then I had to remember. I had to remember why I wanted to sit in a corner and die. My stupid, pathetic heart. Louis cupped my face and made me look at him. He gave me a small smile and wiped a tear from my check. He let my face go, and held me close. We stayed like that, me in his embrace, crying my eyes out, ruining his shirt, until I was out of tears.

            “I know this is hard Allie, but you have to go back.”

            I shook my head, looking up at him. “No I don’t, you and I can stay here forever.”

            He gave me a weak smile, as his eyes filled with pain. “As much as I’d love that, we both know you can’t. You have to go back. If you don’t, well what will Harry think?”

            I widened my eyes, realizing what I had done. I started to hyperventilate. I ran away from them, what if he thinks it’s because of him. Or worse what if he finds out it was because I’m in love with him. It would ruin everything. How could I have been so stupid!

Lou tried to calm me down, “Allie breathe, it’s going to be alright. Just breathe.”

            I was able to pull myself together, and start breathing normally. “Lou, I can’t do it. I basically told him how I felt. I’m a pathetic loser.”

            I felt the prickle of tears in my eyes.

            “Allie you’re not pathetic. Now take a deep breath.”

            I did as he said and wiped my eyes.

            “You’ll go with me won’t you? Please don’t leave me.”

            Louis held me tighter, rubbing my back, “I’ll never leave you Allie.” I sighed in relief and wrapped my arms around his neck, burrowing my face. “I’m sorry Allie but we have to go.”

            I reluctantly let go of his neck, and we broke apart. He started walking to the door.

            “Lou.”

            He stopped, in the open doorway and looked at me. “Yes?”

            I put on the best puppy dog eyes I could, “Will you carry me? Please.”

            He laughed. “Sure luv.”

            “Yay!”

            I ran to him and jumped on his back. His hands wrapped around my ankles, securing me to him and made sure I was situated before heading out the door. We went downstairs in the lift. We got off and headed out of the building, Louis carried me practically the whole way. He stopped a few blocks away from my house, and put me down.

            “I’m afraid I can’t carry you in there luv. You’re going to have to walk.”

            I understood what he was saying. I had to be strong. Even if my heart was beyond repair, I had to show the world that I was strong. I had to live my nightmare. I grasped on tightly to Louis’ hand as we walked to my house. I got out my keys and unlocked the door. I took a deep breath and stepped through.

            I was immediately met with giggles coming from the living room and Jess squealing, “Harry, stop please!”

            I felt tears start to prickle my eyes. Louis must have seen this, for he started to shove me up the stairs and into my room. He closed the door behind us, and sat us down on the bed, holding me in his arms.

            “Please don’t cry Allie, please.”

            I felt a couple tears fall down my cheeks. There was a knock at my door. We quickly broke apart and I wiped the tears from my face.

            “Allie, it’s your mom can I come in?” My mom asked.

            “Sure” I replied.

            She came in, closing the door behind her. She looked at me and then at Louis. “Louis if you don’t mind I would like a minute to speak to my daughter alone.”

            “Sure thing Mrs. Matthews. I have to be going anyway.” He got up and kissed me on the forehead. “If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask. You know where I am.”

            I nodded. He gave me a smile before leaving the room.

            “Allie, come here.” She opened her arms and I quickly ran to her hugging her tightly. I sobbed as more tears streamed down my face. She rubbed my back. “Shh…It’s ok let it all out.”

            “Mom why me? Why did she do this to me? What did I ever do wrong?” I sobbed.

            She looked me in the eye. “Allie I know this is hard, but you can’t blame your sister. She didn’t know. You’re a beautiful and amazing young woman, you will find someone way better and forget all about Harry.”

            I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Find someone better?! She was there when I tried that. _Newsflash mother, IT DIDN’T WORK!_ I told my mom everything. I had told her how I truly felt about Harry. How it killed me everyday, not knowing if he felt the same. And here she was defending her! At that point, I couldn’t take it anymore and something inside me snapped. I broke away from her.

            “Don’t you dare defend her! This is the one thing I had in life and she took that from me. She took away any hope I had. And you sit there and say she didn’t know. Like hell she didn’t know! She is my sister, the one person who is supposed to know me better then anyone else!” I took a shaky breath and slumped down on my bed. “Maybe she didn’t know, but he is my best friend. When is it ever okay to go behind my back and date him!”

            My mom sat down next to me. “I know. I never would have thought that something like this would happen. All I want is for my girls to be happy, and kills me to see that one’s happiness is killing the other.” She wrapped an arm around me. “I know that this will probably be one of the hardest things you will have to go through in your life and I just want you to know that you won’t have to do it alone, I’ll help you through this.”

            I sniffled. “Thanks Mom. I love you.”

            “I love you too” She got up and went to the door. “Take all the time you need, but remember you have to face your problems some time.” 

            She left the room, closing the door behind her. I lay back on my bed and just stared at the ceiling, feeling sorry for myself. When I couldn’t stand the pity party any longer, I left the comfort of my room and headed down stairs. _I can do this._ I walked closer to the living room. _I can do this._ More giggles were coming from the room.

            “Harry I love you.” Jess said.

            “I love you too.” Harry replied.

            My stomach started to churn and my heart broke at his words. New tears filled my eyes. _I couldn’t do this._ I walked with my head down as quickly as I could to the door. _I had to get to Louis._ I put my hand on the doorknob.

“Allie is that you?” Harry called from the living room. I ignored him and continued to walk out of the house.

            “Allie!”

            I ignored him again and walked faster, wiping the tears from my eyes.

            “Allie wait up!”

            He jogged ahead of me, cutting me off. I was forced to stop, and stared him down. He wore a gray shirt, skinny jeans and converse. His hair was tucked up into a green beanie. “Allie why didn’t you stop when I called?”

            I shrugged. “I didn’t hear you.”

            “Are you okay?”

            I scoffed. Sarcasm filling my voice, “Yea everything just peachy keen.”

            “Allie…”

            “What” I snapped.

            “Why did you run off yesterday?”

            I could not believe he just asked me that. My voice filled with sarcasm, “Hmm I don’t know Harry maybe it was because my best friend is dating my sister and didn’t bother to tell me.”

            He looks to the ground. “I was going to tell you-“

            “How long?”

            “How long what?”

            “How long were you two going behind my back?”

            “Oh…umm…two months.” My blood ran cold. _Two months. If I had told him I wouldn’t be here right now._

“Two months!!” I yell. He shrunk back, wincing. “Two frickin’ months you two have been going behind my back!”

            “Allie calm down it isn’t like that.”

            “Oh really, well how would you feel if your best friend and your sister were going behind your back for months! Why didn’t you trust me, I trusted you! Harry, you were my best friend!”

            He looked at me, hurt and panic filling his eyes. “Were? Don’t you mean are?” He tentatively asked.

            The realization of what I had said hit me. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat.

            “I don’t know anymore.”

            I turned my back to him and left.


	5. Promises

I couldn’t look back. I knew if I did, I would go running up to him and forgive him. I couldn’t forgive him, well not yet anyways. I pulled out my phone and called Louis. After a few rings, he picked up.

            “Allie did something happen?”

            “Louis can I come over?”

            “Of course. I’m at the shop so don’t think I died if you get there and no one answers.”

            “Thanks Lou”

            “No problem luv”

            I hung up and walked to his flat. I knocked on the door, and Louis answered. I didn’t hesitate to walk into his arms. He held me tightly while I sobbed. Somehow, Louis had closed the door and moved us to the couch, while I cried my heart out. I was getting sick of crying.

            “Would you like to tell me what happened?”

            I took a deep breath and let it all out, “I heard him tell her that he loves her and then he told me that they’ve been dating for two months. Two months! I feel like such an idiot.” He gave me a weak smile and started to rub my back.

            “Lou if I had told him three months ago, this might never have happened.” I cried.

            “Allie you can’t worry about the past, what’s done is done.”

            I sniffled and looked up at him. “I think Zayn is rubbing off on you.”

            He laughed. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Louis got up to answer it. When he opened the door, Niall came walking in, “Louis you ready to go?”

            I quickly wiped the tears from my face. He saw me on the couch and stopped. He had his dirty blond hair spiked and was wearing a plain white t-shirt with black pants and black vans. His blue eyes reflected the confusion he felt at seeing me.

            “Hi.” I said, giving him a small smile.

            “Hi Allie.” He turned to Louis. “You forgot didn’t you.”

            Louis face-palmed. “Niall I’m so sorry. I've been so busy these last couple days that I just forgot. Can we go to the movies another time?”

            I stood up and grabbed my jacket. “No Louis it’s okay. Go with Niall. I’ll be fine.”

            Louis looked like he clearly didn’t believe me. He opened his mouth to protest, when Niall cut him off, “Allie, do you want to come with?”

            “It’s okay. I don’t want to be a bother. Thanks anyway.”

            “You’re not a bother.”

             “And you’re coming.” Louis said.

            I knew better then to argue with Louis, so I merely sighed and followed them out of Louis’ flat. We arrived at the movie theater and Louis and Niall put on hoodies and sunglasses, so they wouldn’t be recognized, while I got tickets for Identity Thief. We hit the concessions stand. The women behind the counter eyed Niall and Louis suspiciously.

            “What can I get you?” She asked.

            “Can I get a large popcorn and two medium drinks.” Louis ordered.

            The woman nodded and made our order. When she was finished, she handed it to Louis.

            “I’d like a large popcorn, an order of nachos, and a large drink.” Niall ordered. The lady looked at him wide-eyed but got him his order anyway.

            “No matter how much time I spend with you Niall, I just can’t get over how much you eat and still look the same.” I said.

            “Damn your metabolism.” I muttered under my breath

            He took his order from the woman and paid for it. We were headed to the theater when we heard a shrill voice from behind us scream, “Is that Louis and Niall!”

            Louis turned around. “Who’s Louis and Niall?” He asked in a high-pitched, girly voice.

            “OMG it is them!” She shrieked.

            “Shit.” Louis muttered.

            There was a group of teenage girls, bouncing up and down excitedly, while doing something on their phones. The girls started to make their way over.

            “I don’t like the looks of this.” I told them. “Its your fault Niall. Your stomach gave us away!”

            “The stomach wants what the stomach wants, man.” Niall whined. “We better get out of here now while we still can.”

            Louis nodded and we kept walking, searching for a way out. We turned a corner and I hid them behind it. I looked over at the girls, they had stopped and were looking around for a sign of which way we had gone. An idea formed in my head and I started to creep out from behind the corner.

            “Where are you going?” Louis whispered.

            “I got an idea. Just stay there.”

            I took Louis’ sunglasses from him before running towards the girls. I wormed my way into the middle and tried to blend in.

            In the most annoying voice I could do, I screamed at the top of my lungs, pointing in the opposite direction, “OMG is that Niall. Let me love you, my precious snowflake!”

            The girls started to scream and run in the direction I had pointed. I stood still and tried to not get beat up too much from the swarm of girls. When they were out of sight, I went back to Niall and Louis.

            I handed Louis back his sunglasses, “Let’s go before they come back.”

            We speed-walked it out of there, trying to not look suspicious. We made it out safely and started to aimlessly walk around.

            “Whew that was close.” Niall said.

            “Yeah, maybe we should hang out with Zayn more cause no one ever knows where he is.” I said.

            “It’s one of life’s great unanswered questions.” Louis said. I smiled at Louis, trying to hold in my laughter.

            “I already tried that it didn’t work.” Niall told me.

            “I say we tie him up and make him spill his secrets.” Louis said.

            I giggled, “I like it, lets do it. We can threaten to mess up his hair if he doesn’t tell us.”

            “So Allie, do you really think I’m hot?” Niall asked, while wriggling his eyebrows. I desperately tried to keep a straight face.

            “Niall I don’t know what to say. The way you just looked at me has put me at a loss for words.”

            We continued walking, to nowhere.

            “So, what are we going to do now?” I asked breaking the silence.

            “How about the arcade?”  Niall suggested.

            “There are still arcades?”

            “Yes there is still arcades Allie, everyone knows that. You really need to come out from under your rock more often.” Louis said.

            I glared at him and we went to an arcade that was conveniently a few blocks down the street. It was in a medium sized building with games of every kind lining the walls and scattered about the middle of the room. We headed in and went straight to the token machine.           

            “Hey Niall, want to watch me kick Louis’ butt in everything.”

            “You do not win everything.” Louis grumbled.

            “Yes I do, you have yet to beat me. I’m the Queen. Bow down peasant.”

            Louis’s eyes darkened, “It’s so on.”           

************************************************************************************

            We stayed there for hours playing games. Niall had won a couple of games against Louis and I, but every time I went against Louis, I would win. I was having so much fun, that I had forgotten my troubles. Louis and I were currently playing air hockey and the score was tied. I looked up for a second, and I froze in my place. Harry was walking through the door and was headed our way.

            “Score!” Louis yelled. He noticed I wasn’t saying anything, and looked up at me. “Allie, what is it?” He looked in the direction I was looking and swore. “What’s he doing here?”

            Niall came over and stood next to me. He saw Harry and started waving him over.

            “Niall what is Harry doing here?” Louis asked.

            “I invited him. I didn’t think it was a big deal because we are all friends.” Shaking his head, Louis put his head in his hands.

            “Allie? Are you okay?” Niall asked.

            I woke up from my stupor and looked away from Harry. “I’m fine, I just remembered I have to get going.”

            I turned my back to Harry and started to walk towards the exit. Harry grabbed onto my wrist, stopping me from escaping.

            “Allie?” I didn’t answer him. “Allie, can we please talk?” I shook my head, not trusting my voice. “Allie please.” He pleaded.

            At that moment I knew I was going to cave. I opened my mouth to speak, but Louis cut me off, “She doesn’t want to talk.”

            He took Harry’s hand off of me.

            “Lou you don’t understand. I have to talk to her.”

            “You had your chance to talk. Now let her be.”

            Louis took me by the hand, and led me out of the arcade. I knew I couldn’t look back, but I stupidly did it anyway. Niall stood there, clearly confused and Harry was clearly pained as he watched us go. It broke my heart. _Maybe I should talk to him._

            “I know what you’re thinking, don’t do it Allie. You’re not ready.”

            “I’ll never be.”

            I slipped my hand out of Louis’ and walked back into the arcade. Louis followed behind, but stayed off to the side, when I approached Harry and Niall. Harry was talking to Niall with his back to me, so he didn’t see me coming.

            I grabbed him by the arm and he looked at me in surprise, “Allie what are you doing?”

            I ignored him, and dragged him outside. When I was satisfied with where we were, I let him go.

            “Allie…”

            I rose a hand, cutting him off, “Harry what you did, it really hurt me.” He looked at the ground in shame. ”You broke my trust and I am nowhere near to completely forgiving you let alone trusting you.” He nodded his head. “I just need to know…”

            “What Allie, whatever it is I’ll tell you.”

            I wasn’t sure if I totally forgave him yet, but I was getting there. I just need to know I could trust him again.

            “Why? Why didn’t you tell me?”

            “I...I wanted to, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about your sister. It just sort of happened and before I knew it two months had gone by. I’m sorry that I didn’t think about your feelings. I’m a horrible person. I understand that I hurt you Allie and it was the last thing I wanted to do.”

            I let out a sigh.

            “You promise that things won’t get weird between us? Do you promise that this won’t get in the way of our friendship?” I asked.

            Harry looked me in the eyes. I felt my heart quicken, as his emerald eyes softened.

“I promise”

            My stupid heart fluttered at his words, then sunk at the thought of the future I would have to bare.


	6. Back to Normal

Two weeks. Two weeks had gone by and two weeks was all I had left with Harry before he left for tour. We were slowly getting back to where we were. It was hard being around him. Every time, a little voice in the back of my head would remind me of what he did and how I could never tell him how I felt. To top it all off, I hadn’t spent any alone time with Harry, since that horrible day. Louis or Jess would always show up and tag along; it was getting annoying. Louis, I could understand, he was only trying to look out for me, but Jess, I had no idea what her problem was. He was _mine_ first. I rubbed my eyes getting out of bed. I quickly hopped into the shower and got dressed, putting on some light makeup. I braided my hair and double-checked myself in the mirror. I looked pretty enough. Harry and I were going to the movies today. Neither of us had told Jess or Louis what we were doing. We just wanted some time to hang out like we used to. My phone buzzed. I took it out; it was a text from Harry.

**Hazza: Meet me at the park.**

**Me: Ok. See u soon** **J**

**Hazza: Can’t wait ;)**

 I smiled and put my phone in my pocket, before grabbing my purse. I crept down the stairs and to the front door. I put my hand on the handle, slightly opening it.

            “And where are you going?” Jess asked, from behind me. I took my hand off the handle and turned to face her.

            “I’m going to the movies with Louis.” I lied.

            She narrowed her eyes at me, “Anyone else?”

            I shook my head, praying she didn’t see right through me.

            “Fine go, have fun.” She said, stalking off. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and went out the door. I walked to our park, to meet Harry. I saw him immediately. He had on a grey t-shirt, jeans, and converse. He had his hair tucked into a green beanie. A smile started to form on my lips I got closer.

            “Hey”

            He turned, flashing a smile at me, “Hey, you ready?”

            I laughed, “If I wasn’t ready do you think I would be here?”

            He chuckled, “Your probably right. Let’s go then.”

            We walked to the theater, talking and laughing the whole way there. It was almost like old times. Too soon, we had arrived at the theater. Harry bought the tickets while I got us snacks. We started walking to our theater.

            “Hey guys, what a coincidence, seeing you here.” Louis called out, running towards us. The carefree smile on my lips, turned forced when I saw him. _Why can’t I have one day._

            “Yea a huge coincidence.” I mumble sarcastically under my breath.

            “What did you say Allie?”

            “Nothing, Louis.” He eyed me for a second, suspicious. A smile broke across his face, “Well now that we’re all here, why don’t we all go together.”

            I looked to Harry; he was just as torn as I was. We couldn’t just tell him no, there would be no telling what he do.

            “Fine” Harry mumbled.

            Louis’ smile grew bigger, “Great!” He wiggled himself between the two of us, wrapping his arms around both of our shoulders. “Let’s go.”

            We walked into the theater, heading to our seats. Harry went sat down first, in the middle of the row. Louis went over and sat down right next to him. I went to move over to the other side of Louis, but he was blocking my path. “Louis move, so I can sit down.”

            “Just sit here.” He said patting the seat next to him. “It’s too late anyway, the movie is starting.”

            I sighed and sat down next to him. _This was supposed to be our day and here Louis was ruining it again._ If me not sitting next to Harry wasn’t enough, Louis kept making jabs at Harry during the movie. It didn’t help that the main character betrayed his best friend. I felt bad for Harry. I hadn’t completely forgiven him, but he was still my best friend. By the time the movie had ended, I was pissed off at Louis. We exited the theater.

            “I’m going to the bathroom.” Harry said.

            “Okay.” I replied.

            “If we leave, we’ll try not to forget to tell you, but who knows what will happen.” Louis said.

            Harry nodded, walking to bathroom. When he was out of earshot, I turned on Louis.

“What the hell was that?” I seethed.

“What?” He said nonchalantly. His tone made me even more pissed.

Mimicking his voice, “We’ll try to tell you what we are doing but who knows what will happen.”

“I don’t sound like that.”

“Louis you’re getting kind of ridiculous! You need to stop!”

“Stop what?”

“The jabs at Harry!”

He looked at me, clearly annoyed, “Well, _excuse me_ for trying to make sure my friend doesn’t get hurt again!”

“I appreciate that you care, but can’t you see that not mending our relationship is just hurting me more! I can't move on with you treating me like I'm this fragile little thing. It makes me feel pathetic! I can’t always be this fragile little thing. Don’t you see I hate being that way!” I yelled, angry tears spilling down my face. I quickly wiped my face and took a deep breath. I sighed, my voice breaking, “I know that you believe that I’m not pathetic, and for a moment I believe it too. But then I see the way you look at me when I’m around him. You look at me like I’m going to break at any moment, that I’m some hopeless little thing. And out of all these things, do you want to know what I see the most? I see pity, and it reminds me of how pathetic I am. What else reason is there for you to pity me, if I wasn’t pathetic?”

Tears were forming in my eyes, threatening to fall. He looked at me with sad eyes, “I…I didn’t know.”

“How could you’ve?”

I blinked away my tears and started to walk away. Louis grabbed a hold of me, pulling me into a hug, “Allie, I don’t pity you. I’m sorry that you feel this way. I’ll try to give you some space. Let’s just try to get everything back to the way it was.”

I nodded my head and rested it on Louis’ shoulder. _Back to the way it was._ Something about that left an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. _Did I really want to go back to the way it was? Back to normal?_


	7. Getting Closer

One week left. The days were going by fast and then he would be gone. Well maybe not completely, but almost. They would start off in London, so that wasn't so bad. Him being in the U.K. is almost bearable. Of course as the tour got closer, so did Jess. She tried to spend every minute she had with him. I didn't really mind 'cause he still made time for me. Who am I kidding!?! Of course I minded! He was my best friend. I'd like to say things got better for me with dealing with their relationship, but I can't. I mean, come on, who can get over heartbreak in two weeks. I didn't realize how much time I had spent with Harry, until it got fewer every day. I really need to make more friends, 'cause all of mine were leaving soon. And I so did not want to spend all that time with Jess. AWKWARD. I couldn't be alone with her for more then ten minutes. She didn't once talk to me about her and Harry dating, which I was thankful for. I didn't need to hear every sickening, heartbreaking moment of their lovey-dovey relationship. But neither did she apologize for dating him behind my back. It wasn't like I could forgive her anyways. I felt like my home, wasn't home anymore. It was gone, and in its stead was a suffocating hellhole. It wasn't enough that I  _had_ to hear every conversation between them.  _Damn thin walls!_ But my mother was on my back about what I was doing with my life. Not even the comfort of my room could stop that woman and her nagging. I didn't know and wasn't ready to face the void that was my future. I had no clue what I wanted to do; was it really so bad that I didn't have my life completely planned out? I felt like I was going to burst, being in that house. My only solace was when I was at Louis'. It felt more like home these past weeks then my house. I needed to get out of the house and Louis was busy. And that is how I found myself here, at Starbucks, at a table in the back, alone. I sipped on my coffee, with my headphones in my ears, drowning out the world.  _Why must my life be like this? What did I ever do? What is life? Oo Cookies!_ A hand waved in front of my face, jarring me from my thoughts. I looked up to see a grinning blond-haired Irish boy. I pulled out my ear buds and smiled, "Hi Niall."

"Hey, mind if I join you?"

I shook my head and he took a seat. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind if you got me a cookie.”

He chuckled. “Sure” He went to the cashier and came back with three cookies. He handed one to me as he sat down and ate the others.

”Thank you” I said sweetly.

“No problem. So what are you doing here all alone?”

“I had to get out of the house.”

“Family problems?”

“You could say that.” I replied, indicating I didn’t want to talk about it.

“Oh.” He looked down and sipped his coffee. His head shot up, eyes shinning with an idea. He grinned, “Well since I’m not doing anything and you’re not doing anything, why don’t we do nothing together?”

“Hmm doing nothing together…I don’t know. Isn’t that doing something? I really don’t want do anything.”

“ No it will be nothing. Come on it will be fun.”

I laughed, “Doing nothing?”

“You haven’t done nothing till you’ve done nothing with me.” I laughed again. It felt good to laugh. “So whatcha say?”

I sighed, “Fine”

A huge grin broke across his face. He shot up, grabbing my hand, pulling me up with him. We left the shop, leaving our coffees behind. As we walked out some random girl shot out of her seat yelling, “You forgot your coffee, litterer!”

We looked at each other before bursting into laughter as we walked out of the shop. We went everywhere, goofing off and having fun wherever we went. It turned out that doing nothing was a blast. I forgot all my troubles being with Niall. Doing nothing with Niall was the most fun I’d had in a while. When the sun started to go down, Niall finally took me home.

“You do realize we didn’t do nothing?”

“Darn, I didn’t think you’d notice. Smarter than I thought and prettier too.”

“Hey, that’s insulting.”

“Insulting! I thought it was a compliment. You can’t compliment anyone these days without be accused of being rude or mean.” He air quoted.

I laughed and thanked him for today.  

“How about tomorrow? Want to do nothing again?”

I smiled, “I’d like that.”

We said goodnight and I walked into my house. I closed the door feeling happy and excited about tomorrow. I wasn’t depressed and it was all because of Niall. That day was the start of a new and wonderful friendship.


	8. Change

I opened the door, hesitantly.

            “Louis?” I called out, stepping further into his flat. No one answered. _That’s odd._ I closed the door behind me and walked into the living room.

            “Louis?”

            Still no answer. I started searching the living room, to see if he was hiding.

            “Louis if you’re trying to scare me, you better stop right now.” Nothing. “It’s not funny Lou come out right now.”

            I went towards the hall and stopped right outside his door. I reached for the door handle when a noise came from the kitchen. I turned back towards the kitchen hesitantly walking in the direction of the noise.

            “Lou?”

            He suddenly jumped out of the closet next to me, yelling. I let out an ear-piercing scream and swung my purse at him. Unfortunately for him it landed on his groin and he crumpled to the floor.

            “Omg Louis. I’m so sorry!”

            “My balls.” He chocked out.

            I helped him to the couch and rushed back to the kitchen to get him some ice. He held it while I sat down next to him.

            “I’m so sorry again.”

            “Why’d you do that!?!”

            “I don’t know Lou. Maybe it because of the screaming idiot that jumped out of nowhere, scaring me!” I said sarcastically.

            He looked at me sheepishly, ”I’m sorry. You’re right.”

            He groaned in pain again.

            “Serves you right scaring me like that.”

            “So what’s up?” He asked.

            “You know same old same old.”

            “That bad huh?”

            I nodded.

            “Lou, I can’t take it anymore. I think I’m going to move out.”

            “But what about your mom?”

            “She’ll understand. It won’t be for a while anyways, I need to still find a place.”

            “And how are you going to afford that?”

            “I do have a job remember. I’ve been saving up and I almost have enough for a small flat around here.”

            He sat there, silent in thought. “Why don’t you move in with me?”

            “Lou I couldn’t do that. I’ve already bothered you too much with the whole Harry mess.”

            “You wouldn’t be a bother and your mother might be more willing to let you move out if you were moving in with someone that she knows, who’s smart and responsible. “

            “Liam going to let me move in with him?”

            “Ha ha very funny. Come on Allie I have a spare room that I’m not using. It will be so much fun. Move in with me.”

            I bit my lip while I thought it over. It was an enticing offer. I so wanted to say yes but I couldn’t do that to Louis. I opened my mouth to say no, but then the unthinkable happened. He looked at me with huge puppy dog eyes. I sighed, my resolve crumbling. I found myself saying, “Ok. I’ll move in with you.”

            “Yay! Lets go out and celebrate tonight!” He yelled, rising out of his seat with his arms in the air.

            “I’d love to but I can’t. I have plans with Harry.”

            Louis slumped back down on the couch, “Oh”

            “I’m sorry Lou.”

            “It’s fine, you already made plans. I understand.”

            “Hey why don’t we celebrate tomorrow night? Just me and you.”

            He smiled, “Sure I’d love that.”

            “Good. Now how are we going to break the news to my mother.”

            “That will be a piece of cake.”

            “I’m not so sure about that Lou.”

            “It will be if you say it just right. Why don’t we practice? Come on I’ll be your mother.”

            “I don’t know.”

            “Just pretend that I’m your mother.”

            “Ok” I said still a little unsure. I took a deep breath. “Mom?”

            “Yes dear?” Louis said in an extremely high-pitched voice. I burst out laughing.

            “You sound ridiculous Lou.”

            “Who is this Lou you speak of? I am your mother.”

            “Fine _mother._ I have decided that it’s time I moved out.”

            “What!?! No you can’t move out. You’re my baby! You can’t leave me!” He cried. He faked sobbed, “Where will you go? You can’t survive on your own. You’ll be living on the streets.”

            “Mom, I going to move in with Louis.”

            He perked up, “Oh that handsome, smart, responsible, and dashing young man. He’s god's gift to the female population. I guess I can let you go if you go with him.”

            I rolled my eyes at him, “Really?”

            He just smiled and shrugged, “What? Your mother said it not me. You can’t argue with the truth.”

            I just shook my head at him.

            “You do realize that you are going to be there when I tell her.”

            “What? Why?”

            “So she kills you and not me.”

            “Well we better go now then.” He said while slowly standing up.

            He winced a little bit as he made his way over to the door. We left his flat and walked the couple blocks to my house. I took my keys out and unlocked the door.

            “Mom!” I called out. She came walking down the stairs, smiling when she saw me. “Can we talk to you?”

            She noticed Louis closely behind me. “Sure. Hi Louis.”

            “Mrs. Matthews.” He said with a small wave.

            I led her into the living room and we all sat down on the couch. It was ironic that all the big things that seem to go down in our house, happens in this living room. It was like it was a magnet for change. I shifted to face her, “Mom I have something to tell you.”

            “You’re not pregnant are you?” She said.

            “Mom!” Blood rushed to my cheeks.

            “I just assumed because Louis is so close to you that you were going to tell me you were pregnant and Louis is the father.”

            “Mom!” I gasped, my cheeks turning redder. I felt Louis shift uncomfortably behind me. “One I’m not pregnant. And two, Louis?”

            “Oh thank god.”

            She relaxed back into the couch, ignoring my question. _Does my mother really not know me that well? That she thinks that one heartbreak is going to send me straight into some man’s bed._

“I’ve decided that I’m going to move out of the house and live with Louis.”

            Her eyes widened. “You’re what!?! Why?”

            “I can’t take it anymore in this house.” I sighed knowing what I was going to say next would hurt her. “I’m not happy here. This hasn’t felt like home in a while and Louis’ flat does.”

            Tears filled her eyes, “Allie, I’m so sorry that you feel this way. I’m a horrible mother. I should have seen that you were unhappy here.”

            “No mom, it’s not your fault. You’re a wonderful mother.”

            “I don’t like the fact that you’re leaving me, but I know it is for the best.”

            She turned her attention to Louis.

            “Now you take good care of her or I will hunt you down and castrate you.” She threatened.

            Louis gulped, “Yes ma’am.”

            “Good. Now, what will we tell your father.”

**********************************

            Since it was hours before I had to meet Harry, we decided to start moving my things. _The sooner I moved out the better._ Jess had taken the news well, not really seeming to mind at all. My dad on the other hand threatened Louis, before finally agreeing. We got boxes and started to pack up all of my things. I found things I never knew I had and things that I thought were long since forgotten. I smiled as I wrapped up a framed picture of Harry and I, smiling at the beach with our arms around each other. I put it into one of the boxes and looked at the clock.

            “Shit. I’ve got to go.” I said standing up.

            “Already?” Louis asked.

            “Yea”

            I walked to the bathroom, quickly touching up my make up before heading downstairs with my purse. Louis followed closely behind. We walked back together to his flat, before parting ways. We planned on finishing packing and start moving me in tomorrow. I hurried to the movie theater, excited to tell Harry the news. I stood outside the entrance waiting for him. Fifteen minutes went by and he still wasn’t there. More time went by and we had missed the movie, but there was still a nine o’clock showing. My phone started ring; it was Harry.

            “Hi”

            “Hi Allie, I’m sorry. I’m helping Jess with something and I’m running late.”

            “It’s okay we can always see the nine o’clock showing. You’ll be there right?”

            “Yea definitely.”

            I hung up the phone and went inside. I waited inside till about 8:40 and then went back outside. The sun had gone down and the temperature dropped. My sweatshirt kept me somewhat warm but I still was cold. I rubbed my arms, trying to warm myself up. Ten minutes had gone by and he still wasn’t here yet. _He’s just running late, nothing to worry about._ Nine o’clock came around and he still hadn’t shown up. My phone rang; it was him. I answered it.

            “Hey, where are you?”

            “Allie, I’m sorry but I can’t make it.”

            “What is it?”

            “It’s taking longer then I thought to help Jess. I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

            I swallowed the lump in my throat, “It’s okay. We’ll hang out some other time.”

            “Are you sure?”

            “Yea, I’ll just hang out with Niall.”

            “Ok, I got to go. I’ll see you later.”

            He hung up the phone and I quickly called Niall. After a few rings he picked up.

            “Hey Allie, what’s up?”

            “I’m outside the movie theater and Harry cancelled on me, would you like to see a movie?”

            “He what!?! I’ll be there in fifteen minutes!”

            “Ok”

            I hung up the phone and waited for Niall. _It’s just a one-time thing. Do not over react. He is still your best friend; nothing will change that. Yea, that’s the problem._

*******************

            I would like to say that was the first and last time he did that. Hell I’d _love_ to say that, but sadly it wasn’t true. It just got worse. The excuses and last minute cancellations kept on coming. They had started their tour, so for the longest time I used that as an excuse for him. But I was just kidding myself. For when he did cancel, I bit back my disappointment and called Niall. I always made it seem that I didn’t have plans and wanted to hang out. He almost always says yes and it made me wonder why Harry was so busy and Niall wasn’t. I thought for sure since that night he would’ve suspected that something was up, but he never said anything. It was killing me inside that Harry kept doing this; that I was losing him. _He promised._ And I was stupid enough to believe him. I didn’t dare tell Louis. God knows what he’d do to Harry if he found out how many times he left me waiting. It was life. Things change, we change. We make new friends and lose old ones. We move on. I couldn’t keep crying about it, ‘cause it was the truth. Harry had finally moved on, leaving me behind. We’d changed. I haven’t been to our park for a while. I couldn’t. Our park was no longer ours. I knew he’d probably taken her there, and that destroyed the last thing Harry and I had together. I couldn’t go there and relive the memories of Harry and I laying on the grass, laughing, and being happy without seeing them kissing. It hurt too much. I didn’t want to keep being a crybaby about everything in life. There were people who had it worse off then me. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself, so I acted like it didn’t bother me, that I had moved on. Louis saw right through me, but Harry didn’t. And maybe that’s what hurt the most, knowing I was  hurting and he couldn’t even see it. I was completely moved out of my parent’s house and into Louis’ flat. It made things slightly easier. I didn’t have to hear them and be constantly reminded that I was being replaced. And that made it hurt less. Harry still didn’t know I had moved out of my parent’s house. It was just another example of him not caring. I got off the phone with Harry, after he cancelled our plans yet again. I don’t even know why I try anymore. I sighed and called Niall. It rung twice before he picked up.

            “Hello?” Niall groggily asked.

            “Hey, It’s Allie. Did I wake you?” I asked.

“Yeah, but it’s okay ‘cause I get to here your beautiful voice.” Thank god Niall wasn’t here to see my cheeks redden.

            “You do realize it is two in the afternoon and you’re just getting up now.”

            “I was tired. Can’t a guy nap?”

            “Lazy.” I muttered.

            “What was that?”

            “I just asked if you would like to go shopping with me?”

He groaned, “Why me? Don’t you have someone else that you can go with? How about Louis? Wouldn’t you rather have him and his sense of fashion.”

            “Yeah I’d asked Louis if I wanted to end up wearing nothing but stripes and suspenders. I really want to go with you Nialler. Please.”

            “Fine” He mumbled. “But you owe me.”

            “Yay! Thank you Niall!”

            “I’ll be there in ten.”

*************************

We just finished eating at Nando's and were walking around.

            “That was so good. We should do that again.” Niall said, rubbing his stomach.

            “Niall you practically ate half the menu, how can you still be hungry!” I laughed.

            “I’m not. I just wanted to see your face when I said it.”

            We passed by a couple of stores, and then I saw it. Victoria’s Secret. I got a wickedly, wonderful idea. I took Niall by the hand and led him in the direction of the store. When we got to the entrance, I tried to drag him inside.

            “Lets go in here Niall.”

            “What!?!” He said, clearly uncomfortable.

            I looked back at him and saw the look on his face. He was completely horrified. I burst out laughing. “I’m sorry Niall, I had to see your face.”

            He relaxed when he realized that we weren’t going into the store. I double over in laughter.

            “Are you finished?” He asked.

            I straightened and nodded wiping the tears from my eyes. He grabbed my hand and continued walking through the mall, stopping at the occasional shop. We were having fun when Niall had to go and ruin it all. He stopped walking and looked at me.

            “Why didn’t you ask Harry to come with you? He’s free today.” He asked.

            “No. No he isn’t.” I replied bleakly.

            “What has been going on between you two? And don’t say nutin’. I see right through you missy.” I sighed and looked away from him. “Come on you can tell me. You and Harry are best friends and you haven’t been spending time with him. As much as I love spending time with you Allie, I can see that you’re hurting.”

_Could I tell him the truth?_ I opened my mouth, ready to lie, but I found the truth coming out instead, “I’m in love with him.”

            I covered my hands over my mouth. _I can’t believe I just said that._ He looked at me with wide eyes, completely in shock. There was something else behind the shock that I couldn’t identify so I brushed it off.

            “You’re what?”

            I looked to the ground, “I-I’m in love with him.”

            “Since when?”

            “Last year.” I mumbled, still unable to look him in the eye.

            He cupped my face, making me look at him.

            “And now your sister’s dating him.” He said.

            I nodded tears, starting to fall. “He lied to me then apologized, promising that it wouldn’t get in the way. Then he left me standing out in the cold.”

            “The night you called me.” He said, putting the pieces together. I nodded. “Oh Allie.”

            I laughed, “And do you know the messed up part? I stupidly believed him. I let my heart believe that I could still have Harry. That even though I couldn’t be with him the way I wanted to I could still have him and maybe it would ease the pain, but I knew it was all a lie.” I laughed. “Me and my stupid weak heart, what a pair. What greater misery has it set me up for? To know that I have lost all of him to her, it’s the final nail in the coffin.”

            “Allie don’t say that. You aren’t weak. Harry is still your friend, tell him what your feeling.”

***************************************************

**Harry’s P.O.V**

            I was able to get away and decided to surprise Allie. I knocked on her front door. It swung open, revealing her mother.

            “Hi Harry, are you here for Jess?” she asked.

            I smiled, “Hi Mrs. Matthews, I’m actually here for Allie.”

            “Allie moved out and into Louis’ place two weeks ago. And anyways, I think she went out to the mall with Niall. Didn’t she tell you?”

            I shook my head. _She moved in with Louis. Why didn’t she tell me?_ My smile faltering. “Well ok then. Maybe I’ll go surprise her. Thanks.”

            And with that I left. It kind of hurt that she didn’t tell me and had replaced me so quickly with Niall, but couldn’t I really blame her, after all I haven’t really been there for her. I walked back to my car, driving to the mall. I quickly went in searching for them. I had to talk to her. I needed to know why she didn’t tell me. _How could I have been so stupid! Why didn’t I notice?_  I stopped running when I finally found them. Niall and Allie had their backs to me talking. I jogged a bit to catch up to them. I froze as I heard Allie’s angry voice, “Don’t you get it Niall! He’s _moved_ _on_. He clearly doesn’t want me as a friend anymore. He promised and I stupidly believed him. I thought everything was going to be okay, but I should have known better. I should have known the moment he _lied_ to me. He never lies to me about something like that, and yet he did. And he made his promise to make things better, to make me think that he cared. But he doesn’t! If he did he wouldn’t have done this to me over and over again.” Her voice broke, “I’ve lost him.”

            I quickly hid out of sight. _What have I done?_ I’m losing her and I didn’t even know it. _Some friend I am._

            “Allie he’s still your best friend. You haven’t lost him.” Niall said.

            My breath caught in my throat as she shook her head, “That’s where you’re wrong. He isn’t my best friend, not anymore.”

            She sobbed as Niall pulled her into a hug, trying to calm her down. Hearing her cry and know that I was the reason behind her tears broke my heart. _I’m not her best friend anymore? I can’t lose her; I need her._


	9. The Invitation

**Harry’s P.O.V.**

            I took a deep breath. _You can do this._ I walked out onto the stage, mumbling what I was going to say under my breath. I’ve been up all week, trying to figure out how to make it up to Allie. There wasn’t enough time for me to spend time with her, because we would be leaving the U.K. soon for the rest of our tour. Then last night, it hit me, on how I could make it up to her. I was going to ask her to come on tour with us, well soon after I asked the lads if it was okay. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to them. I was nervous because I knew I would have to tell the lads what I did to her. _Louis is going to kill me._

Louis looked at me smiling, “Hazza!”

            The others looked up at me too. I merely nodded at him before going over to my spot. We rehearsed for the next five hours before we called it quits. Everybody was packing up and we were all alone. _Now’s my chance._

“Hey can I talk to you guys?” I asked.

            “What is it?’ Liam asked.

            “Well it’s about Allie.”

            Both Niall and Louis stiffened at the mention of her name.

            “What about her?” Zayn asked.

            “I was wondering if we could take Allie on tour with us?”

            Louis perked up, “We’re taking Allie with us!?!” He started jumping up and down, screaming “Yay!”

            “Louis stop.” Liam said exasperated. He looked at me, “As much as I like Allie, why now, do you want her to come?”

            I looked at the ground in shame. Louis stopped jumping up and down, realizing the situation.

            “Harry?” Louis asked.

            I rubbed the back of my neck, looking up at them, “I messed up.”

            “Messed up how?” Zayn asked.

            I gulped, “I’ve been blowing her off and spending time with Jess.”

            All of them except for Niall, looked surprised. I saw a flash of anger in Louis’ eyes.

            “Well it isn’t like you left her waiting for you.” Zayn looked me in the eye, “You didn’t do that right?”

            I looked to the ground, unable to look him in the eye.

            “Harry.” Liam sighed.

            “You did what!?!” Louis screamed, getting into my face. He was fuming.

            Liam put a hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm him down, “Louis calm down.”

            Louis turned away from me and faced Liam, “You’re right.”

            He started to walk away and Liam let him go. Louis suddenly spun around, socking me in the nose. I cried out in pain, as a trickle of blood ran down my face. I held my nose and braced myself for the next hit, but it never came.

            Louis was pulled away screaming by Liam and Zayn, “You asshole! You left her out in the cold, waiting for your sorry ass. You promised her and then go and pull this crap! Don’t you realize how much you hurt her!?!”

            “Louis calm down.” Niall said.

            “Niall, you’re her friend too, don’t you care?”

            “I do.”

            “Then act like it!”

            “Can’t you see I am!?!” He shouted at Louis. “She didn’t want this. That is why she didn’t tell you!”

            Louis stopped struggling, looking wide-eyed at Niall.

            “She told you?” He spoke as if each word caused him physical pain. Niall nodded and a silent exchange was passed between the two. Louis hung his head, mumbling, “You can let me go. I won’t do anything.”

            Liam and Zayn looked at each other before letting him go.

            “Please don’t do this for me, do it for Allie. She needs this. I screwed up and left her feeling like she didn’t have a friend in the world. I don’t deserve her forgiveness. Please at least let me try to make her happy after everything I’ve done.” I pleaded.

            “You’re right, you don’t deserve her.” Louis said before walking off towards back stage.

            “She can come.” Liam said, leaving me alone with Niall. I looked at him, unsure what he was going to say next.

            “How could you? Could you please tell me? Because I can’t fathom why you would do that to someone as sweet and kind as Allie.” He turned his back to me, “I don’t understand.”

            He walked in the direction of the others, leaving me alone. I rubbed my face. I had really screwed up. _Allie is not going to even talk to me._

 

*************************************************************************

           

            I knocked on the door of her and Louis’ flat. Louis opened the door with a smile on his face, that quickly disappeared when he saw me.

            “What do you want?’ He growled.

            “Can I speak to her?”

            “Hmm let me think…no.”

            He tried to slam the door in my face, but I stuck my foot in the doorway stopping him.

            “Please Louis.”

            “No. Now go away and ruin someone else’s life.”

            “Louis who’s that?” Allie asked.

            “Nobody, just some trash in the hall.” He called out to her.

            I looked down at the floor, hurt. I deserved that, but it still hurt that my best mate said it.

            “I know your lying. Now move.”

            She shoved Louis out of the way.

            “Allie, don’t.” He protested. She opened the door wider. Her eyes widened at the sight of me.

            “Hi.” I said with a small wave.

            Her eyes narrowed at me, “What are you doing here Styles.”

            Shit, I was in big trouble now. She only called me by my last name when she was really pissed off at me.

            “I’m here to see you. I wanted to know if you wanted to go for a walk and talk.”

            “No she doesn’t.” Louis said from behind her.

            “Let me grab my coat.”

            She closed the door, leaving me in the hall. I could hear muffled, raised voices through the door. Soon she stepped out, wearing a coat and beanie. She closed the door behind her before Louis could protest. We started walking out of the building,

            “So when were you going to tell me about moving in with Louis?” I casually asked her.

            She shrugged, “Well I don’t know whenever you were finally going to show up.”

            I looked to the ground in shame, unable to speak. We walked the rest of the way in an awkward silence. _Is this what it’s come to? The days where Allie and I were inseparable replaced with awkwardness._ As the entrance to the park came into view, she stiffened realizing where we were going. When we got to the entrance, I kept walking while she stopped right in front, refusing to go in. I realized she was no longer with me and stopped, turning to look at her. _Was it really that bad? She didn’t even want to go to our place._

She looked me in the eye, “You want to talk, then talk.”

            “Ok, come sit with me and we’ll talk.”

            She shook her head, “No, you come over here and talk. I will not let you use the memories here to sway me into forgiving you.”

            I walked back over to her, keeping my head down in shame. “Allie I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. I hate myself for treating you this way. I need you in my life Allie, you’re my best mate.”

            “Well apparently that wasn’t good enough was it? You don’t need me anymore, you have Jess.”

            “Allie please-“

            She raised her hand cutting me off. “I don’t want to hear it. You left me out in the cold. You showed your true colors when you decided to ditch me for my sister. Hell you decided when you dated her behind my back!”

            She then turned and started to run. I couldn’t let her get away from me this time. I ran after her. I ran like my life depended on it, and in a way it did.

            “Allie!” I called out to her.

            She quickened her pace, trying to get away from me. I pushed myself harder and was quickly gaining on her. When she was in arm’s length, I grabbed onto her waist and pulled her close.

            “Allie please.”

            She kicked and clawed at me, trying to get me to let her go, but I wouldn’t relent. I couldn’t let her go.

            “Allie listen, I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. But I’m trying to make it up to you.”

            “It’s too late.”

            I shook my head, “No it’s not, cause you’re going on tour with me.”

            She immediately stopped fighting me. She turned her head to look at me, narrowing her eyes, searching for any signs that it was a trick. “What did you say?”

            “I said will you go on tour with me and the lads?”

            She sucked in a breath, clearly still unsure if I was telling the truth. I deserved every second of her doubt, I had done this to her.

            “And Jess?”

            “No Jess.”

            “No”

            “No?” I asked, confused.

            “You heard me, I said no. I will not forgive you. Not this time.”

            “Don’t do this for me, do it for yourself.”

            She paused, lost in thought. She shook her head at me, “But it wouldn’t be doing it for me. It would be doing it for you.” She looked away mumbling, under her breath, “It’s always for you.”

            She broke free and left me standing there, in shock. I had lost her. I watched her walk away, from me and our friendship, and it was all because of me. As if a miracle was happening, she suddenly stopped and came back to me.

            Her eyes blazing as she pointed a finger at me, threateningly, “I want to get one thing straight Styles. I am not going for you. I will not forgive you. It will take a lot more then this to get me to even think of forgiving you. I’m going because of Niall and Louis, not you. You got that?” I nodded, fighting a smile. “Good, now take me home.”

            We walked back to her flat, in silence. But this time I didn’t mind ‘cause I was one step closer to getting her back. I walked to where I parked my car, outside of Louis’ flat and drove home. I opened my front door to a sight, I wasn’t ready to deal with yet. Jess was sitting on the couch, waiting for me.

            “Hi baby.” She squealed while running up to me. She gave me a quick kiss and smiled at me expectantly. A hey was all that I could choke out. She looked at me confused for a minute before plastering a smile on her face again. I put my keys on the counter, shrugging my coat off.

            “Don’t you have something to ask me?”

            I looked at her confused, “What are you talking about?”

            She slapped me on the arm playfully while saying, “Why to come on tour with you silly.”

            “What?”

            She stepped away from me, narrowing her eyes, “Someone told me that you were planning on asking Allie and I thought that since you were asking her, you would also ask me, _your girlfriend._ ”

            I gulped. _Shit. Think Styles, think!_

            “Oh that, I was just going to make it special. You caught me by surprise is all.”

            “Uh-huh” She said, clearly not believing me.

            I grabbed her hand lovingly, “So Jess will you go on tour with me?”

            “Yes! I loved to!” She yelled, latching her hands around my neck. “OMG! I can’t wait!”

            “Well you’re gonna have to ‘cause I can’t take you until June.”

            “That’s okay. I have to go, I’ll be back later.”

            “M’kay”

            She gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving out the door. I plopped down on the couch, putting my head in my hands. _I had really done it now._ It seems that every time I try to make it up to Allie, Jess gets in the way. _Ugh, Allie is going to kill me, then Louis, then Allie. No wait scratch that Louis is gonna kill me then Allie, then Louis again._ I swallowed. It was time to face the music. I dialed Louis, slightly praying that he wouldn’t pick up.

            “Hello?” He asked. _Dammit he answered._

            “Hey Louis.”

            “Harry, what do you want?”

            “I messed up again.”

            His voice filling with anger, “What the hell did you do this time?”

            “I’ve might of invited Jess along too.”

            “You did WHAT!?!” He screamed. His yelling was so loud that I had to put the phone away from my ear.

            “I know that I messed up, but I’m still going to spend time with Allie and make it up to her.”

            “How are you going to spend more time with Allie if you invited Jess? Hmm…?” Louis asked.

            “Shit I hadn’t thought of that.”

            “Asshole.” Louis mumbled, before hanging up.

            I threw my phone on the couch. I just keep on screwing up.

 


	10. The Journey Begins

Months later….

            I woke up to my alarm, blaring in my ears. I checked the time 3:15 a.m. _Ugh why was it going off at this ungodly hour._ Then I remembered what today was. Today was the day I was going on tour with Harry and the boys. Excitement filled me and I jumped out of bed, running to the bathroom. I pulled on a pair of sweats and sweatshirt and brushed my teeth. I put my hair up in a bun and some mascara on. When I was finished I excited the bathroom and slipped on a pair of Toms before heading to the kitchen. My bags were already packed and ready to go. I was so excited; I could barely contain myself. Louis was in the kitchen making tea. I ran up to one of the counter’s stools, jumping in the seat, making it spin in the process.

            Louis turned to me, “Well I see someone is excited this morning.”

            “Yep” I said popping the p with a big grin on my face. “Louis, how come your up before me? I usually have to drag you out of bed.”

            Louis shrugged, “Couldn’t sleep I guess.”

            “Well I can’t wait to spend time with you guys. Harry inviting me shows he’s really trying. Maybe I can trust him this time.” Louis expression became pained. “Is everything all right?”

            He plastered a fake smile on his face, “Yea.” I shrugged it off thinking he was just tired. He handed me a cup of tea

            “Drink up. You’re going to need it.”

            “Thank you.”

            I took the cup out of his hands and brought it to my lips. I blew on it before taking a sip. The tea was really sweet and it warmed my throat as it went down. He watched me drink it with a guilty expression on his face. I drank the whole cup quickly, managing to not burn my mouth in the process. Suddenly there was a bitter after taste in my mouth from the tea. I handed back the empty mug to Louis.

            “Louis what kind of tea is this? It’s leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.”

            “Same tea I always make, maybe it’s a bad batch.” He looked at the time. “Allie go get your bags. Paul is going to be here soon.”

            I ran back to my room and quickly grabbed my bags, placing them at the front door. The doorbell rang. I opened the door to Paul.

            “Morning Paul” I cheerfully said.

            “Morning” He grumbled. “Are you all set?”

            “Yes” Louis said coming behind me.

            We grabbed our bags and headed downstairs to a black van. Louis and Paul loaded the bags while I climbed inside, buckling up. Louis and Paul soon climbed in. Louis sat next to me and Paul climbed into the driver’s seat. He started driving towards the airport.

            “Aren’t we going to get the others?” I asked a little confused.

            “They’re already there.” Paul said his eyes flickering back to the road.

            “Oh”

            As we got closer to the airport, my excitement was starting to fade and I felt myself grow tired. After a while we arrived at the airport, and unloaded our stuff out of the van. The rest was sort of a blur to me because with every step, I felt my eyes lids get heavier and heavier. It got to the point where I was leaning on Louis just to keep myself up right. _What’s wrong with me?_ I was vaguely away of Louis picking me up and whispering in my ear, “Its okay luv, go to sleep.”

            I couldn’t fight it anymore and I gave in to my tiredness.

 

*****************************************************************************

**Louis’ P.O.V:**

            I watched Allie close her eyes, falling asleep in my arms. She was so beautiful. I followed Paul into a waiting room where the others were already waiting. I prayed that everyone would be asleep, but unfortunately they were not. Liam and Zayn sitting off in one corner of the room on their phones. Jess was resting her head on Harry’s shoulder, while he too was looking at his phone. Niall was just sitting, staring off to space. He snapped out of it when I entered the room. He smiled, seeing the both of us.

            “Hi Louis” He said.

            I nodded a hello. I didn’t want to speak in the fear of waking her up. Harry looked up from his phone with a guilty expression on his face. _Serves him right the bastard._ He looked around for Allie.

            “Where’s Allie?” Harry asked. I motioned to her sleeping peacefully in my arms. He breathed out a sigh of relief, “Oh”

            I glared at him, causing him to look away in shame. _Yea that’s right, asshole._

“I thought she would’ve been wide awake from the way she kept going on and on about how excited she was.” Niall said. Guilt passed Harry’s face.

            Paul spoke up from behind me, “Yeah me too. When she answered the door she was all excited and wide awake.”

            I was consumed by guilt and I quickly looked down at her. Let me just say that it did not help my guilt one bit. I had to eventually look at anything else, but her.

            “Louis” I turned my head to Niall. He stood up and pulled me into a corner.

            “What did you do?” He whispered.

            “I might of put some sleeping pills in Allie’s tea this morning.”

            “Louis!” He whisper shouted.

            “I couldn’t let her see that.” I motioned my head towards the two lovebirds, who were sucking each other’s faces off. It made me sick. “She would have immediately left. Do you know what would have happened next Niall? She would have been heartbroken and alone. No you or me to help her. Him lying again would destroy her. I can’t let her suffer alone. At least this way, we can both be there for her.”

            He sighed, “You have a point, but that still doesn’t make what you did right.” He looked down at her, “She is going to kill you when she finds out what you did.”

            I gulped. _I’m going to be in deep shit when she wakes up._

*********************************************************************************

**Allie’s P.O.V:**

            I woke to the sound of screaming teenage girls. And let me tell you it is not a nice way to be woken up. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and saw two bright blue eyes staring back at me.

            “Morning beautiful” Niall said. My head was resting in his lap, while my feet where across Louis’. “You slept through the whole plane ride and the ride to the hotel.”

            “Really? That’s so weird. I’m never that tired.” I groggily said.

            I slowly sat up, looking around the van. Zayn was passed out on Liam shoulder and Jess was cuddling with Harry. _Wait! What?! What the hell is Jess doing here?_ I looked over at Louis for some kind of explanation, but he looked at the ground unable to look me in the eye. _He knew. They all knew and not one bothered to tell me._ What they did stung. I could be mad at Louis later, now I had bigger fish to fry. Harry did it again. He gave me hope and crushed it. But more importantly he lied, again. I felt tears start to prickle my eyes. _How could I have been so stupid as to believe that he was trying? He wasn’t trying; he was just trying to make himself feel better._ I angrily wiped the tears away. _If he thinks I’m going to forgive him this time he had another thing coming. You’re going to forgive him because you love him. Shut up!_ I squeezed my eyes shut trying to rid my head of the war ragging on inside it.

            I shifted to an upright position and whispered into Louis’ ear. “You knew. Didn’t you?”

            He stiffened at my voice before slightly nodding.

            “Did you do something so I would still come?” He opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. “The truth”

            He mumbled something.

            “I can’t hear you.”

            “I put sleeping pills in your tea.”

            “You what?!” I screamed in his ear.

            Everyone turned to look at me, as I lunged for Louis. Niall held me down before I could place my hands around his neck. I glared at Louis, causing him to shrink away from me. When I thoroughly scared him I turned my attention to the other asshole in the car, Harry. He froze under my gaze. I let my hatred for him roll off me and go into that gaze. I saw his eyes change when he realized how much I hated him. He looked broken, but I didn’t care. Paul opened the van door, breaking my glare at Harry.

            “It’s safe to get out now.” Paul told us.

            We started to file out of the van and into the screaming mass of fans. I stayed next to Niall as we maneuvered through the crowd to the hotel lobby. Harry and Louis stayed as far away from me as the security shield would allow. Niall rubbed my back trying to soothe me.

            “It’s going to be okay.” He whispered in my ear.

            I felt tears start to come again. _Weak._ We finally made it to the lobby and Paul checked us in. We climbed into the lift and started to go to our rooms. The lift ride to the rooms was dead silent. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. I was mad at Louis for drugging me and I was mad at Harry for lying to me again. But most importantly I was mad at myself for believing him again. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ I looked at the roof of the elevator. _God just can’t give me a break can he?_ Liam, Zayn and Niall were watching me closely; to see which one I would go after first. I wanted to yell at them, but I couldn’t because _she_ was there. Jess would know something was up and I couldn’t let her hold my feelings over me. And deep down, I also didn’t want to ruin this for her. She looked so excited when she told me she was coming too. I just couldn’t tell her that they didn’t want her. Then a horrific thought overcame me. _What if I was the one they didn’t want._ She didn’t know I liked Harry, so it wasn’t really her fault. As much as I want to blame her, I can’t. Harry is his own person; he _chose_ to spend his time with her. The lift finally stopped, opening to our floor. We filed out of the lift with our bags in tow.

            “Okay listen up here are the sleeping arrangements. Liam and Zayn, Niall and Louis, Jess and Harry, and Allie you get a room to yourself.” Paul announced.

            I inwardly thanked Paul that I would be alone. He handed out everyone else’s keys but mine.

            “Now the concert is at eight you need to be there at six for sound check and to get ready. You need to be ready to go by then or else. Understand?”

            We all nodded and the others left for their rooms. I stood their patiently waiting for Paul. He walked over to me and handed me my key. I was about to leave when I felt his hand on my shoulder; I looked back at him.

            “Are you okay?” I shook my head, not wanting to fall apart in front of Paul. He gave me a sad smile, “Whatever it is, don’t be too hard on Louis. He means well.”

            And with that he left. I went to my room quickly and locked the door behind me. I didn’t really take in my surroundings; I was too upset. I threw my bags on the ground and landed on the bed. I took a pillow and screamed into it. _Why does my life seem like it is falling apart?_ Hot tears started to roll down my cheeks as I sobbed into the pillow. A knock on my door, made me bolt upright. Wiping the tears from my face, I got up and opened the door, to a concerned Louis. I grabbed him by the arm, before he could speak, dragging him into the room. I closed the door behind him, and just clung to him. I was still mad at him, but I needed someone right now.

            I started to cry into his shoulder. “It’s okay Allie. It’s okay.”

            He rubbed my back as I continued to ruin his shirt with my tears. He led me back to my bed, pulling me into his lap as he sat down. We sat there, me crying my eyes out and him trying to soothe me. No one talked, and we didn’t have to. Finally, I was all out of tears.

            “I feel so stupid. I got my hopes up again when I should of known this would happen. I wanted things to go back to they were so badly that I didn’t see what was going on.”

            “Allie it’s not a bad thing to want to get back to where you were. It doesn’t make you stupid.” He sighed, “As much as I hate him right now, you should know the truth.”

            I shook my head, “I don’t want to hear it. Whatever it is, it won’t change what I feel.”

            We slipped into a comfortable silence. I had my gaze fixated on the wall, trying to distract me from my thoughts.

            “So does this mean you’re no longer mad at me?” Louis asked, breaking the silence and my concentration.

            “Nope.” I looked up into his eyes, “Why?”

            “I knew that if you found out before, then you wouldn’t have come. Then you would be stuck at home alone, suffering. I couldn’t let you suffer alone.”

            I thought about what he said, and I knew that deep down he was right. I couldn’t suffer alone, no one can. We all need someone to hold onto, to make us feel better. I thought that person was Harry, but it was Louis. Louis has always been there when I need him. Louis was who I turned to, when I needed help. He always thought of me and tried his best to help me out. I needed to stop with the drama. I needed to forget Harry and move on. I needed to let him go.

            “Thanks Louis, for being such a good friend.” He grinned. “Don’t think that you’re off the hook for drugging me.”

            His smile turned into a pout, and his eyes grew big.

            “Uh-uh. That doesn’t work on me.”

            “Darn it.”

            I giggled, nestling closer to him.

            “What are you going to do?”

            It was a good question and frankly I had no idea. I couldn’t go and act like nothing had happened, because that wouldn’t resolve my feelings. They would only come back later to bite me in the butt. I had to be civil. Act like it bothered me but didn’t at the same time. _Ugh I’m confusing._

            “I honestly don’t know. I’m so done with my feelings for him right now, but at the same time I can’t let them go.” I looked up at him. “Do you know what I mean? Have you ever felt like this? Loving someone you can’t have because they love someone else.”

            His face darkened as sadness filled his features.

            “Yes” He bleakly replied.

            I rested my head against his chest and sighed. I had to face Harry sooner or later and as much as I would love it to be later, I knew it had to be sooner. I let go of Louis and went to the bathroom. I washed my face, scrubbing away any evidence that I had been crying. I applied some mascara, and when I was satisfied with how I looked, went to my door.

            “Where are you going?” Louis asked, his eyes filled with concern.

            “To face the music.”

            I left the room, stepping out into the hall, closing the door behind me. I walked over to where Paul was stationed outside one of the rooms.

            “Hey, what room is Harry in?” He motioned his head to a room to the right of him. “Thanks”

            I tentatively walked to the door. I was about to knock, but stopped when I heard voices. I put my ear on the door trying to hear what they were saying.

            “Why do you care what she thinks anyway? She doesn’t matter, there’s nothing special about her.” Jess said.

            I felt tears prickle my eyes. _Is that really how she sees me? That I’m nothing?_ I pushed my head closer, trying to hear Harry’s reply.

            “Jess how can you say that? She’s your own sister! She matters to me.” Harry said.

            My heart fluttered at his words. _I matter to him._ I couldn’t help but smile. Then I realized I would only matter as a friend, nothing more. My smile didn’t falter, because after all the shit I went through I still mattered to him. He still cared, and no matter how pathetic as it sounds, I would take anything right now

            “I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to try and talk to her.”

            I heard his footsteps come closer to the door. I hurriedly backed away and raised my hand, about to knock. The door swung open, to reveal a surprised Harry.

            “Allie, I was just about to come see you.”

            I lowered my hand.

            “Can we talk?” I asked.

            He nodded, closing the door on a fuming Jess. We walked a little down the hall so Paul couldn’t hear us.

            “I’m sorry.” He said.

            I gave him a small smile. “I don’t believe you, not because I’m hurt, but because I can’t. You have told me more lies these past months then the whole time we’ve been friends.” He looked at the ground in shame. “If you want to be my friend, stop letting her get in the way. And stop making promises you can’t keep.”

            I left him there and went back to my room. As I passed by Paul, he spoke, “You’ve got an hour to get ready. Could you please tell Louis?”

            I nodded and went to my room. I opened the door to Louis pacing frantically back and forth.

            “Paul says you’ve got an hour to get ready.”

            He stopped, and looked at me.

            “That was fast. How did it go?” He asked.

            “Like it always does. Only now I’ll have to wait and see if what I said changes anything.” He nodded, thinking over what I’d said. “As much as I love you, could you please go. I have to get ready.”

            He nodded, saying a quick goodbye, before leaving me alone. I pulled out my suitcase, setting it on the bed. After many different combinations, I had an outfit I was happy with. I grabbed my clothes and toiletries and headed to the bathroom. I took a quick shower and blow-dried hair. I pulled on a pink blouse and a pair of pale striped shorts. It was hot outside, and even though the concert was going to be ending late, didn’t care. I put on some light make up and curled my hair a little bit. I put my room key in my purse and anything else I might need, before slipping it on my shoulder. On my way out of my room, I slipped on a pair of grey sandals. (A/N: Picture of Allie’s outfit on the side.) The boys and Jess were already in the hall waiting for me. Louis’ head turned, at the sound of my door closing and upon seeing me, smiled. Harry looked in the direction Louis was smiling, and saw me. He gave me a tentative smile. Jess had her arms crossed in front of her, looking clearly unhappy and annoyed.

            “It’s about time.” Jess grumbled.

            I ignored her comment and started walking towards the lift. Niall walked up to me grabbing onto my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine.

            “You look pretty.” He said.

            I blushed, looking at the ground.

            “Thank you.” I mumbled.

            Louis stared at us, shooting angry looks at Niall. I shrugged it off, thinking that he was just being overly protective. We all headed down to the lobby and exited out the back door, so fans wouldn’t mob us. We filed into the van and drove to the venue. The car ride was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. When we got to the venue, we quickly ran inside and they boys were ushered into make up and hair. Time flew by and before I knew it, Jess and I were in the V.I.P section watching the boys perform. Jess ignored me and continued to ignore me until the end of the concert. I just didn’t understand her sour mood. _What did I ever do to her?_ The boys were absolutely amazing and I was having a blast. Jess, despite her sour mood, was having fun too. I danced and sang along, having the time of my life. Things were starting to look up, and maybe just maybe this wasn’t going to be too bad.


	11. Hanging Out with the Boys

I woke up with a slight pound in my head from last night’s concert. I stretched and slid out of bed, heading to the bathroom. I showered, and got ready for the day. The boys had nothing planned, so we were free to do what ever we wanted. I went out into the hallway, closing my door behind me, to see the boys just standing around, staring off into space.

            I walked over to them, “Where’s Jess?”

            “She’s not feeling well.” Harry replied.

            I tried to stop the smile that was forming on my face.

            “Aww really? That’s too bad.” I said, faking my disappointment. “So what’s the plan for today?”

            I looked to each of the boys, they all shrugged.

            “You all are no help.” Still not one of them said anything. “Come on there’s got to be something you guys want to do?”

            “We could go to the aquarium?” Liam suggested.

            “The aquarium! There we go, that is a fantastic suggestion! Let’s go!” I shouted running down the hall to the lift.  We all got in, and headed down to the lobby. I ran out of the lift and through the back exit to the van that was waiting for us. The boys slowly followed behind. Finally we were all in the van and heading off to the aquarium. Excitement started to grow in me and before I knew it I was jumping up and down as it came into view. I rushed out of the van, impatiently waiting for the boys to get out.

            “Come on! Come on! Hurry up I want to see the jellyfish and the otters! Oooo and Nemo and Dory!!!!”

            They all got out, looking at me as if I had grown a third head.

            “What?”

            “Why are you so chipper this morning?” Zayn asked.

            I shrugged, “I just feel really good.”

            “Are you high?” Niall asked.  

            “No. I’m just not going to let anyone get to me.” I said, slightly glaring at Harry. He quickly looked away, avoiding my gaze and his guilt. I grabbed onto Louis and Niall dragging them to the entrance. We got our tickets and headed inside. Soon after we entered, Niall, Liam and Zayn went off somewhere leaving me alone with Harry and Louis.

            I smiled at Louis, “Lou can we go see the otters?”

            He smiled, nodding his head as he took my hand. We started off walking in the direction of the otters with Harry following. I stopped after only a few steps and looked behind at Harry.

            “Where are you going?”

            “I’m going to see the otters with you guys.”

            “I’m sorry but is your name Lou?” Harry didn’t answer. “That’s what I thought.”

            Louis looked at me with a what the hell are you doing look on his face. I ignored him and started walking, dragging Louis along with me. It was mean what I did, but I had to do it. I had to make him understand what it felt like to be left alone, excluded by your best friend. We walked a little bit farther before I stopped again and turned to look back at Harry. His shoulders were slumped forward, with his head down. I wasn’t that mean

            “Harry!” I called out. He looked up. “You can come.”

            His face light up with a huge grin and he started jogging over to us.

            “I thought you were going to leave me there all alone.” He said when he finally reached us.

            “I would never leave my best friend alone like that.”

            He looked away and we started walking again. It was a long, and awkward walk, but after a while we finally made it. I started to bounce up and down in excitement. I ran up to the window, letting go of Louis’ hand. I looked at them in awe. They were so carefree swimming in the water, that it made me kind of envy them. I felt someone come up to me and grab my hand. Thinking it was Louis; I interlocked my fingers with his and lifted my head to smile at him. But instead of a smiling Louis it was Harry grinning at me like everything was okay. My smile faltered and I tried to take my hand away, but he wasn’t having it.

            “Am I really that bad that you can’t even hold my hand?” He asked.

            “Yes” I replied, freeing my hand and walking over to Louis.

            “You’re going a little hard on him.” Louis said.

            I looked at him incredulously, “Excuse me?! What happened to the whole ‘He’s a bastard and never can be trusted’ speech you been giving me?”

            “He looks like a puppy who’s just been kicked. I think he deserves it, but could you be slightly nicer. Holding grudges isn’t you and I don’t want you to become that type of person.”

            “And what type would that be?”

            “The type that can never move on cause they’re holding on to hard to the past. You’re not meant for that, the world needs more people like you Allie. The type who can forgive and forget and not screw up the world.”

            I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I was stuck in the past and maybe not right this second, but it was time to move on. I walked back over to Harry and grabbed his hand, “Let’s go see the jellyfish”

            He seemed a little shocked, but still smiled at me. I grinned back at him and we headed off. Louis followed closely behind.

            “Hey do either of you know where the others are?”

            “I think they went to see the sharks.” Louis said.

            “Good. I didn’t want to see them anyway.”

            “Aww is little Allie scared?” Harry teased.

            “No! I just don’t like them.”

            “Well if your not scared then you won’t mind meeting the others there?”

            “I don’t.”

            “Good”

            “Good”

            “Fine”

            “Fine”

            “Can we just go already?” Louis said slightly annoyed.

            I huffed, letting go of Harry’s hand and started walking in the direction of the shark tank. After getting lost twice, we finally made it. I stood as far away from the tank as possible, while we looked for the others.

            “Do you see them?” I asked. Harry shook his head.

            “Look their over there.” Louis said, pointing to the left. _For people who are trying not to be recognized, they’re rather easy to spot._ I looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a familiar blond quiff. _Niall._ I started running towards them. I knocked into Niall, hugging him tightly, causing an oof to escape his lips. He looked down at me with a grin, surprised.

            “Why hello there crazy.”

            I grinned back at him, “Hi”

            “Not that I mind but would you care to tell me why your hanging onto me?”

            “I missed you and wanted a famous Horan hug.” I slightly let go of him, so that I wasn’t hugging him too tight. “Niall, come see the jellyfish with me.”

            “Ok”

            “Wait, Allie you haven’t even seen the sharks yet.” Harry smirked. “I thought you really wanted to seem them.”

            I glared at him.

            “Fine” I grumbled, letting go of Niall. I reluctantly walked closer to the tank. I looked at them for about two seconds before turning back around to the boys.

            “But you haven’t even got a proper look at them.” Louis whined.

            “Get closer.” Harry said.

            I sighed, before turning back to the tank and getting as close as I possibly could. I looked at them swimming around in their tank and it really wasn’t so bad. It was, dare I say, almost kind of nice. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a shark appeared right before me. I screamed, jumping away from the tank. The boys doubled over in laughter and people were stopping to see what the commotion was about. My face got hot with anger and embarrassment.

            “Stop it! It’s not funny.”

            Liam straightened up and stopped laughing, “You’re right it wasn’t funny.”

            Before I knew what was going on he held me close, so that my head was resting on his chest. “You’re too precious for this world.”

            The boys burst out into another fit of laughter.

            “Get off.” I yelled, shoving Liam off of me.

            “I hate you guys.” I mumbled.

            “Aww no you don’t. You know you love us.” Zayn said placing his arm around my shoulder. Before I could push him off, he leaned down towards my ear whispering something that made my blood run cold.

            “Some a lot more then others.”


	12. Liam and Zayn Know What!?!?

I froze. _Shit! Shit! Shit! Calm down Allie. It could be nothing. Act cool, act cool Allie._ I took a deep breath and acted like I didn’t hear a thing he said. I subtly pushed him off and went to Niall.

            “Can we go see the jellyfish now?” I asked.

            “Sure” Niall replied.

            “Can we go before the others come?” I smiled, taking his hand.

            “Sure thing, beautiful.” He grinned, nodding.  We left the others clutching their stomachs, still laughing at my mishap.  We walked in a comfortable silence the whole time holding hands. Zayn’s words kept replaying over and over again in my head. _How did he find out?_ It’s always the quiet ones you should watch out for. I should have known that with keen observation skills he would have figured it out, but he is a guy after all. So how the hell did this happen? I was careful. _Apparently not careful enough. Shut up. Okay, it’s going to be fine as long as he doesn’t ask to talk to you then you’re fine. Nothing will happen and I can go back to secretly admiring Harry from a distance._

            “Allie?” Niall said, jarring me from my thoughts.

            “Hmm, I’m sorry what did you say?”

            “Do you know where we’re going?”

            “No, I thought you did?”

            He sighed, looking around, “Well you lucked out cause it looks like we’re here.”

I smiled pulling him forward towards the tanks. I let go of his hand and got closer. I stood there looking at the different colors and sizes, getting lost in their wonder. I felt my troubles slip away.

            “Allie?”

_Damnit._

            “Yea?”

            “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”  
“You just seem kind of out of it?”

            “Its just something Zayn said. Its no big deal.”

            “You know, you can tell me anything?”

            I nodded, “Its nothing really. I’m probably over reacting.”

            He looked at me expectantly. I shook my head, refusing to tell him. That was a mistake. He pouted out his lip, pleading with his eyes. I sighed, “Fine. All Zayn said was, ‘you know you love us, some a lot more then others.’ It’s not really that big of a deal.”

            Niall stood there unsure of what to say. My eyes widened, “You didn’t?”

            “No, of course not! I’m just a little surprised is all.”

            “Oh”

            Then came the awkward the silence. We stood there looking at the jellyfish, not saying a word.

            “Allie, I-“

            “Niall! Allie! There you are.” Harry said, cutting Niall off. He ran up to us. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you guys. It’s time to go.”

            I nodded and went with Harry back to the main entrance, while Niall followed closely behind. We met up with the others and drove back to the hotel. The ride was silent and uneventful, just the way I like it. We pulled up around the back and filed out of the car. I kept a safe distance from Zayn just in case. I didn’t want to take any chances of that comment turning down a road I didn’t want to go down. We walked into the lobby heading towards the lift. They all filed in, but there wasn’t enough room for all of us.

            “I’ll just wait for the next one.” I said.

            “Are you sure?” Louis asked.

            “Yea”

Louis nodded. _Yes!_

“I’ll wait with her.” Zayn said.

_No! No! No!_

Before I could protest, Zayn had already stepped out of the lift and the doors closed.

            “You really didn’t have to do that. I would have been fine.” I told him.

He shrugged. _Oh now he wants to be quiet._ The next elevator came quickly and we got in. Between the silence and my brain freaking out, the ride felt like forever. The lift finally stopped its torturous ascent and opened the gates to freedom. I walked normally, trying not to show any sign that I was avoiding Zayn. I made it to my room quickly, and went to open the door. I was about to step in when Zayn spoke, “Hey Allie we need to talk.”

I turned to look at him.

“About what?” I nervously asked.

“About what I said.”

“Oh that.”

I quickly stepped inside my room and shut the door on him. I leaned against the doorframe, hyperventilating. _This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. But it is. Shut up brain! I want to go back to where I only liked Harry as a friend. Well hate to break it to you but you can’t. Shut up! This is just great. I’m going crazy. I mean I’m arguing with myself, for Pete’s sake._ I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. _It’s going to be just fine. I won’t open the door, he can never get in and I’ll just avoid him. Problem solved._ My confidence in my plan was quickly dashed when I realized a key problem in my plan. I was on tour with him. It would be nearly impossible for me to avoid him 24/7.  A knock on my door interrupted my melt down.

“Allie?” Liam called out.

“Yes?” I answered.

“Can you help me with something?”

“Sure Li. What is it?”

“Let me in and I’ll show you?”

I opened the door, expecting just Liam, but the day wasn’t going the way I’d thought because Zayn was standing right next to him. I tried to quickly close the door in their face, but Liam stopped me. I struggled with him, but Liam, being stronger then me, won, opening the door wide enough for both he and Zayn to step through. I crossed my arms, and let out a sigh as they closed the door behind them and situated themselves on my bed.

“So Allie…” Zayn began.

“What?” I snapped.

“There’s no need to be rude.” Liam huffed.

“Well excuse me for not being polite, but you lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie. I needed your help with something?”

“Oh yeah and what was that?!”

“Getting Zayn into your room.”

I glared at them, “ You both walk in here like you own the place and expect me to spill my guts to you! And how the hell did you even find out I’m in love with Harry?!”

“Harry?” Zayn asked.  Liam nudged him in the stomach. “Oh right Harry.”

“It was kind of obvious.” Liam said, silencing Zayn.

“It was that obvious?” I asked, worry filling my features.

Liam’s eyes widened in realization, “Oh no I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I only saw it cause I’m observant like that.” Zayn interjected.

I sighed in relief.  Then there was silence.

“So umm how long?” Liam asked.

“Last year.”

“And he’s dating your sister.” Zayn said.

“Yup”

“Have you ever tried to tell him, how you feel?” Liam asked.

“I tried the day I found out Harry and Jess were dating?”

“That’s why you were so upset.” Zayn realized.

“And then he kept standing you up.” Liam said, a slight anger to his voice

“Yep welcome to my life.”

I started to tear up.

“Oh Allie.” Liam got up and pulled me into a hug. I started sobbing into his chest.

“I just thought things were going to be okay. I thought I could live with them being together. I thought I could do it if I still had him in some way. I thought I was important to him. But I was wrong, so wrong.” I sobbed.

            Liam started to rub my back, “Allie you are important to him. Trust us. It’s you he always talks about.”

            I looked up at Liam and weakly smiled, “Thanks but I know that’s not true. He’s already proven how important I am to him.”

I pulled out of Liam arms, to see Zayn standing right next to me. They looked at me with sadness and pity. Pity how I hated that. It just fueled my thoughts on how pathetic I really was. I looked away unable to take anymore.

            “Allie look at us.”  Zayn said.

            I refused, staring intently at the wall as the tears streamed down my face. Zayn grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him. He wiped the tears off my face before he spoke, “He messed up. He tried to make it up to you but messed up again. He’s still trying to make it up to you. He cares about you Allie. You’re not pathetic for being in love with him. It’s only pathetic if you don’t do something about it. Because trying to move on isn’t working for you and no matter what Harry says, I don’t think he’s truly happy with her. Allie do something, I’m begging you.”

            “I can’t she’s my sister.”

            He sighed, “It will suck, but she’ll get over it.”

            “Have you met my sister?”

They chuckled.

            “Yeah, you have a point.” Liam said.

            Zayn let go of my face, “I’m not saying do anything now, but make up your mind because there are others who can care for you and love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

And with that they left, leaving me to think about what they’d said.

********************************************************************

**Louis’ P.O.V**

            I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling. To say I was bored was an understatement. Suddenly a knock sounded on my door. _Something to do!_ I jumped off of my bed and quickly opened the door, letting Liam and Zayn in.

            “What are you guys doing here?” I asked.

            “We need to talk.” Liam said. Something about the tone of his voice made me think that I wasn’t going to like this.

            “Okay, what’s up?”

            “We know that you’re in love with Allie.” Zayn said.

            “What?! No, that’s crazy.” I lied.

            “Don’t try to deny it. We’ve seen the way you look at her.” Liam said.

            “Fine. I’m in love with her. But she’s in love with Harry and there’s nothing I can do about it.” I widened my eyes in shock. _How could I out Allie like that? I’m a horrible friend. Maybe she is better off with Harry._

            “We know”

            “What?!”

            “She just told us everything. I went to go confront her about loving you or Niall.” Zayn replied

            “What do you mean Niall?” I asked, slightly angry and jealous.

            “Nothing.” Zayn said, realizing his mistake.

            “No tell me, I can handle it.”

            “We think Niall’s in love with her.”

            “Oh”

            I was jealous but most importantly, I was worried. Niall has been there for her when I couldn’t. _Maybe she did fall for him._ No I couldn’t think like that.

            “Louis, you need to tell her how you feel.”

            “It’s not that simple. It could ruin everything. You don’t know Allie like I do. She’d feel guilty, that she made me feel exactly the same way Harry had made her feel.”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Harry told her when she was going to tell him.”

            “We already know that.”

            “Well she called it the worst day of her life, and she couldn’t understand how anyone could do that. Do you know how much it would kill her to know that she did that to someone? Ripped their heart out like it was nothing?”

            “That might be the case, but you need to tell her before someone else does.”

            I sighed, “You might be right, but she’ll break this time and there will be no one for her to go to. She’ll leave us, she’ll leave me.”

            They both stared at me, unsure of what to say. Then Niall came into the room.

**************************************************************************

**Zayn’s P.O.V**

            I didn’t know what to say. I thought it had been so simple this morning. I was going to get Niall or Louis to admit their feelings for Allie and Allie to admit hers for them, and she’d be happy with one of them. But then she had to go and throw that curve ball. Everything Harry has done, was put into a whole new light now because of this. I felt bad for her and I was mad at Harry, especially at how she had found out. Allie needed to be loved and if Louis wasn’t going to admit it then it would be Niall. Liam spoke a few comforting words to him, while I took Niall out into the hallway. I felt bad for him and Niall, they both must know how Allie feels, and to hear that the one you love loves someone else, sucks. We headed away from everyone’s rooms. I looked around, making sure no one would be listening in, before I spoke, “Allie huh?”

            The Irish lad blushed, looking down at the ground

            “Yea” He mumbled.

            “Niall, tell her.”

            “I can’t, not yet.”

            “Why not?”           

            “I haven’t felt this way about a girl in a long time and I need to make sure she’s completely over Harry. I don’t want to be anyone’s rebound, especially not her. I want her to love me like I love her.”

            “Aww Niall, who knew you could be so romantic?”

            “Ah shut it.” He said, shoving me away.

            “I get it Niall. She told Liam and I everything.”

            He seemed a little taken aback, “She told you everything just like that?”

            “Well we kind of forced it out of her, but yeah.”

            “So everyone knows except Harry and Jess.”

            “Yup”

            Niall stood there silent for a while, deep in thought.

            “You know what Zayn? You’re right. I’m going to tell her how I feel. I can’t wait around forever; I might lose her. Thanks for the talk.” He said patting my shoulder. He walked back towards his room and went in. Liam came out shortly after and headed towards me.

            “So I convinced Louis to tell Allie.” Liam said.

            “Shit, I just did the same with Niall.” I said.

            We looked at each other in shock.

            “We just made it worse didn’t we?” Liam asked.

            “Yup.”


	13. The Journey Continues

Liam and Zayn knowing, not as big of a deal as I thought. Well nothing is as bad as I think because with situations like this my imagination tends to run wild. The only thing now was telling Harry. Hmm let me think about that…. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!! I lied to Liam and Zayn. These lips ain’t spilling anything to him anytime soon. I will just live my life loving from a far and eventually move on. Perfect right? Ahh who am I kidding I’m lying to myself it won’t get better unless I at least try to do something about it. I got up from my bed and ran a comb through my hair. Whoever said that it was supposed to be calming was lying their ass off, because all it did was make me more upset every time the brush got stuck because of all the snarls in my hair. Damn you Disney and your unrealistic expectations of hair!! I just needed to relax and go to sleep. Tomorrow we were leaving for the airport to take us to the next location and then we’d get to the part that I’ve been dreading, the tour bus, where I would be stuck with Jess and Harry and no escape. I groaned into my pillow. _WHY DOES GOD HATE ME?!_ I closed my eyes and prayed for sleep. And for once my prayers were answered.

*******************************************************************

“Allie” a voice called out, waking me from my pleasant dreams.

“Go away.” I mumbled, throwing a pillow at whoever it was.

“Ow”

_Success!_

“Allie come on get up.”

“No go away Lou.”

I screamed as I was suddenly pulled by my feet off the bed and thrown onto the floor with the comforter to break my fall.

“What the hell Louis!?!” I threw the blanket off my head, fuming, ready to kill the Doncaster boy. But instead of Louis, Harry was standing before me with a hint of hurt on his features.

“You called me Louis.” He said, his voice leaking a little of the hurt he was trying to hold back. I suddenly felt guilty, but then quickly shook it off. I had no reason to feel guilty.

“I didn’t have a reason to think that it would be you.” I said while standing up and retreating to the bathroom. I was fortunate enough to have put my clothes in the bathroom the night before. I quickly got dressed in a plain white t-shirt and jean shorts. I put a little make up on and finished getting ready. When I exited the bathroom, Harry was on my bed waiting for me. I ignored him and put on a navy sweatshirt and Toms before checking around the room to see if I had forgotten anything.

“You’re already packed?” Harry asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes” I replied. It was quiet for a while until I broke the silence, “Why didn’t Lou come and wake me?”

“He wanted to, but I won.”

“You won what?”

“Rock-Paper-Scissors.”

“Idiots” I mumbled smiling to myself while shaking my head at their idiocy.

Once I finished checking the room, I went to grab my luggage but Harry beat me to it.

“Harry I can get it myself.” I huffed.

He shrugged, “I know, but it’s the least I could do.”

I shot him a smile and did something that I really shouldn’t have. I kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks.”

A huge grin broke out on his face, showing off his dimples, “No problem.”

I opened the door and we stepped into the hallway to find the others were waiting for us.

“Finally, you guys were taking forever.” Jess whined.

Somebody came and took my luggage out of Harry’s hand and put it with the others. Jess walked over to Harry attaching like a leech to his arm.

 “I missed you.” She said before kissing him. I looked away. _Yup, defiantly not looking forward to that for the next month._

“If you two are quite down swallowing each others tongues, we have a plane to catch.” Louis said, breaking up their make out session. They broke apart and we headed down in the lift. Louis grabbed onto my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine.

_You okay?_ He mouthed. I nodded and he seemed satisfied. We piled into the van and headed off to the airport. We quickly went through security and boarded the plane. Louis and I sat together, with me next to the window. Niall sat behind us, Liam and Zayn behind him, and Harry and Jess behind them. I was as far away from the happy couple as I could possibly be and I couldn’t be happier. Soon we took off and were in the air. I pulled out some playing cards and played with Louis. After a while the score was tied ten games apiece. I yawned. “Allie your tired get some sleep.” Louis told me.

“No, I must beat you.”

“As if. I am the king of cards!”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Yea sure you’re the king.” I said sarcastically.

“Anyways, the game will still be there when you wake up.” Louis said, ignoring my comment.

“Okay” I mumbled. He put away the cards and tray tables, while I put up the armrest between us. I laid my head on his shoulder, getting comfortable. “Louis will you sing for me?”

“Isn’t that what your IPod is for?”

“Please Lou” I pleaded, looking up at him with big eyes.

“Fine and I’m only doing it cause you pulled those damn Bambi eyes.”

I smiled, “Thank you.”

I closed my eyes,  drifting off to sleep as he sang.

*******************************************************

**Louis’ P.O.V**

            “We’ll be arriving in Chicago in five minutes.” The captain said over the intercom.

            I looked over at Allie; she was fast asleep, resting her head on my shoulder. She looked so peaceful. I didn’t have the heart to wake her up. She was going to need every bit of sleep she could get. Soon the plane landed and passengers started to get off. The boys and Jess came walking up the aisle to us.

            “Louis we got to go, why aren’t you moving?” Liam asked.

            “She’s asleep isn’t she?” Harry said.

            I nodded. He unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her by the waist. I felt her head lift up off my shoulder. I knew what was coming and had to act fast.

            “No Harry, I got her.” I whispered, reaching out for her. But, it was too late; he was already carrying her in his arms.

            “I got her, Lou don’t worry.”

            “Here’s an idea why don’t we just wake her up?” Jess said.

            “No!” All five of us whisper shouted.

            Jess crossed her arms and huffed. Allie shifted, and we all froze dead in our tracks. She snuggled in closer to Harry’s chest. I felt a pang of jealousy, that it wasn’t me who she was snuggled against. Harry walked out of the plane with Allie in his arms and Jess trailing closely behind. She clearly wasn’t happy about the situation. _Why would she be so upset? It’s her sister not some other girl. It’s not like she knows. OMG SHE KNOWS! Nah can’t be. She wouldn’t be dating Harry if she knew. Would she?_ I grabbed our stuff and followed after them. We stepped out of the terminal to the sounds of screaming fans. I heard Liam ask them to quiet down cause Allie was asleep and surprisingly they did. I wasn’t really paying attention to the fans; I had my eyes trained on Harry and Allie. Harry got a little closer to some fans, a little too close for my comfort. All of a sudden Allie was pulled violently out of Harry’s arms. The world disappeared and all I saw was Allie falling. I desperately ran to them, but I was too late. She landed on the ground with a crack and cry. My blood ran cold.

 

***********************************************************************************   
  


**Allie’s P.O.V**

            I heard some voices and I was vaguely aware of someone picking me up. They were so comforting, that I snuggled closer to them, not caring who they were. Hey I’m tired. I felt whoever was carrying me start to move. I heard some screams and tried to block them out by burrowing myself farther into the arms carrying me. The screaming stopped and so did we. We stayed still for the longest time, I knew we couldn’t possibly be there already, but I didn’t want to open my eyes and find out. I felt someone violently pull my hair, making me fall out of the arms that were carrying me. My eyes snapped open and I let out a cry. I landed on the cold hard floor with a crack. The pain in my head was unbearable. I let out a whimper and my eyes fluttered closed.

            “Back up! Back the hell up!” Louis shouted. I felt a hand on my cheek.

            “Allie, Allie are you okay?” Harry asked. I opened my eyes to see Louis, Harry, and Niall kneeling on the ground, hovering over me.

            “My head hurts but I think I’m ok.”

            They let out a sigh of relief.

            “She’s fine, can we go now?” Jess said clearly unhappy. All the boys glared at her. Niall helped me to my feet.

            Louis suddenly let out a gasp, “Allie you’re bleeding.”

            “Don’t be silly Lou.” I said putting a hand to the back of my head. I felt around until I felt something warm and sticky near the back of my neck. My stomach dropped. I put my hand to my face and sure enough there was blood on my fingertips. Niall gripped me tighter at the sight of my blood. Whoever pulled me out of Harry’s arms had pulled me with enough force to rip out a small chunk of my hair.

            Harry suddenly got up and started shouting, “Who did that?!” Nobody answered him; they stayed silent. “Do you think that by hurting my best friend that you would get my attention? That I would notice you and how special you are!?! Whoever did this is no fan of ours and now because of them we are all done. No more pictures and autographs.”

            The rest of the boys nodded in agreement. Louis was fuming and Niall worriedly looked me over for any other damage. Louis was shooting daggers out of his eyes at all of the fans.

            “Lou” I called out. Seeing me, his features softened and he walked over pulling me into his arms. He eased up a bit when we started to go. I leaned on Louis, resting my head on his chest with Niall hovering nearby as we walked.

            “Thanks Nialler and Lou” I mumbled.

            “No problem love” They replied.

            The fans remained quiet as we walked away.

            Suddenly, a lone voice called out “Louis!!”

            Louis turned in the direction of the voice, clearly annoyed. Before I knew what was happening, he picked me up and handed me off to Niall, before going after whoever called out for him. The sudden action made me a little dizzy, but it soon faded.

            “Niall put me down, I can walk.”

            “No can do. You might hurt that pretty little head of yours again.”

            “You do realize that it was someone carrying me that was the cause of me hitting my head.”

            He considered what I had said. “Maybe, but I’m not letting you go.”

            I huffed and crossed my arms. I looked back to see Louis talking to some girl.

 

***********************************************************************************

**Louis’ P.O.V**

“Louis!!”

I turned looking for whoever called my name. _How dare someone call out my name after what we just said._ I quickly picked up Allie and handed her off to Niall before she could protest. I went back looking for the girl who called my name. Security tried to stop me, but I didn’t care. I was fuming. They hurt Allie and think that they can still get stuff from us. I saw a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes waving frantically at me. I glared at her as I walked closer. I stopped in front of her ready to yell my head off at her. But before I could, she started to speak.

“I’m sorry that that happened to Allie, but it wasn’t us. Is she ok?” She said. “Yes. Now why would I believe you?” I snapped.

“Cause I saw who did it and got it on video.”   
“Show me.”

She held out her phone to me and pressed play. I took the phone from her, watching the video. My eyes widened in shock. My shock was short lived however when it was replaced with white-hot anger.


	14. She did What!?!?

**Louis’ P.O.V.**

            I hated her; no I loathed her. I quickly gave the girl back her phone and stormed over to the others. I glared at Jess, “You evil, conniving bitch!”

            “Louis what’s wrong?” Liam asked.

            “What’s wrong!?! WHAT’S WRONG!?! Why don’t you fucking ask her?” I shouted pointing to Jess.

            Harry confused, looked at Jess, “What’s he talking about?”

            Jess stood there looking like a deer caught in headlights. “Yeah what is he talking about Jess? Go on. Go ahead and tell them what you did.”

            She remained silent.

            I raised an eyebrow, “No? Fine then I will. This pathetic excuse for a sister, no I’m sorry human being, was the one who ripped Allie out of Harry’s arms and threw her on the floor!”

            Harry’s eyes widened and his face crumpled, “Is this true?”

            “Yes” She mumbled, her eyes downcast.

            “Niall put me down.” I could faintly hear Allie telling Niall. Niall gently put her on her feet but still ha d a hand around her waist keeping her close.

            “Why?” Harry asked.

            She looked up at me a faint smirk on her lips and that’s when I saw it, the look in her eyes, she knew. She had known all along. This only fueled my anger. I lunged for her, but the boys held me back.

            “You bitch!” I yelled. Paul came up and helped the boys.

            “Louis what is wrong with you. Calm down!” Paul shouted.

            I would not calm down. That bitch knew all along and ripped Allie’s heart out and now she is physically attacking her. I don’t want to a hit woman, but this was unforgivable. To cause that much pain to someone doesn’t even make her human. I saw it her eyes, the silent smirk behind the terror. She knew I knew and that there was nothing I could do without outing Allie. Paul held me secure, as I thrashed about trying to break free. Suddenly, Jess cried out holding her reddening check. Allie stood there fuming with tears streaming down her face. I stopped yelling and thrashing about.

            She spoke, her voice steady and strong, “Why?”

            Jess stood there still in shock. Allie got in her face and screamed “Why!?!”

            Jess shrunk back, whimpering. Harry shifted slightly, unsure of where to go. I shot him a glare and for once he did the right thing and stayed put. I wanted to hear what this bitch had to say. No one was coming to her rescue and she knew it. I saw the wheels in her head start to turn as she thought up a lie.

            “I didn’t mean too, it was an accident. One of my bracelets got stuck in your hair and I tried to get it out. I’m sorry.” She whimpered.

            “Liar!” I screamed, thrashing in Paul’s arms.

            Paul put a hand over my mouth, shushing me. He should know better then to do that. I licked his hand, causing him to quickly take it away with a disgusted look on his face. I smiled in triumph.

            Allie stood there staring into her sister’s eyes for what felt like an eternity. Finally she spoke, “It’s okay, I forgive you.”

Her words took the air out of my lungs. I slumped in shock in Paul’s arms. _How could she? How the hell could she forgive that bitch?_

“What?” I breathed out. Allie turned her attention towards me.

            “I said I forgive her.”

            I didn’t want to believe the words that were coming from her mouth. I had so many things to say, to scream but all I could find myself saying was, “What?”

            Allie looked around at everyone, “Could you give us a minute?” They all quietly left, except for Paul who still held tightly to me. Allie nodded at him, mouthing _it’s okay,_ before he finally released me.

            “Louis, I forgive her.”

            I found myself able to speak again, and the words were tumbling out of my mouth, “How can you forgive that bitch for what she did!?!”

            “It was an accident Louis, get over it. I have.”

            “An accident!?! How can you say that!?! She pulled out a chunk of your hair! I’m telling you she did it on purpose.”

            Allie looked at me with those big eyes, and spoke with a small voice, “Why would she?”

            I sighed. My naïve Allie, she was too good for this world. Why the hell did she have to see the best in people? How could I tell her that her sister knew all along and was actively hurting her. _It was her sister for fucks sake!_

            I took a deep breath, knowing what these words would do to her, “She knows.”

            Her face twisted in confusion. “What?”

            “I don’t know how Allie, but I know she knows.”

            She shook her head, “No Jess wouldn’t do that. She’s my sister. She wouldn’t have if she’d known-“ Her face paled and she seemed to be struggling for breath. “Allie, are you okay?”

            “I’m fine, just a little dizzy is all. I’m done talking about this Louis.” She turned around, starting to head in the direction of the car. She suddenly stopped, her knees starting to buckle.

            “Allie?”

            I stepped closer, resting a hand on her shoulder. Her body went slack and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell into my arms.

            “Allie!”

            My heart started to pound as I held her unconscious frame tightly against me. Paul and some security came rushing over. Paul looked her over, “She needs to go to the hospital.”

            I nodded vaguely aware of him as the pounding in my chest drowned out everyone. He tried to take her  from me, but I scooped her up, clinging to her small frame. I ran to the van and jumped in with her in my arms. The driver hesitated for a second before I screamed at him to go, and we were off to the hospital. I stroked her hair, still clinging on to her, “Everything’s going to be okay. Just hang in there.”

            **************************************************************

**Allie’s P.O.V**

            I woke to a bright light. I squinted, rubbing at my eyes, trying to figure out where I was. Looking around, I realized I was in the hospital. _How the hell did I get here?_ I vaguely remember talking with Louis and then nothing. _Louis. Jess. Harry._ I shot up, regretting it as soon as I did, and looked around the room. Louis was to my left asleep his head on the bed while he clutched onto my hand. Next to him was Niall slumped back in a chair against the wall, asleep as well. Some hair fell onto my face and I reached to brush it back, but couldn’t. I looked to see what was holding me down. My heart started to pound as I let out a light gasp. On my right, was Harry clutching my hand and in a similar position as Louis.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. _Why is he here? Where’s Jess?_ The door opened and in walked a woman with a long white coat and a clipboard in her hand, jarring me from my thoughts. She smiled brightly at me, “Hi Ms. Matthews, how are you feeling?”

            “Ok, I guess.”

            “Well that’s good to hear.” She opened her clipboard, looking it over.

            “How long have I been here?” I asked.

            “Oh you've been out for 12 hours.”

            “12 hours?”

            “Yes. You had some blood loss and have a slight concussion. I’m going to run some tests and then you are free to go.” She ran her tests, all the while the boy slept, still unaware I was awake.

            “You’ve got some great friends there miss. Wouldn’t leave your side until you woke up.”

            I smiled, looking lovingly at the sleeping boys. “Thank you. They sure are.”

            “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that they were all in love with you.”

            I laughed, “That’s a nice thought, but I don’t think so.”

            She shrugged, “Well if you say so.”

            She closed the clipboard, “Everything seems fine, so I’ll go and get your papers ready and then you’ll be free to go. Take it easy and drink lots of water, ok?”

            I nodded.

            “I’ll be right back with your papers.”

            She left the room, closing the door gently behind her. I lay back looking at the ceiling of the hospital room, waiting for them to wake up. Suddenly I felt the urge to pee. I tried to pry my hands from them but it was no use, they held on too tight. I had to wake them up. I started to shake my arms, hoping that would do the trick, but they still laid there fast asleep.

            “Louis, Harry wake up.” I said. Nothing.

            “Wake up!” I yelled thrashing my arms as best I could. Nothing. _Looks like its time for more drastic measures._ I did the only thing I could think of, I screamed.

            The boys shot up, worriedly looking around.

            “Allie, you’re awake!” They cried. Niall got out of his chair, pulling me into a hug.

            “Yes and I need to pee, so do you think you could let go of me?” They all instantly let go, sheepishly looking at me. “Thank you.”

            I got up and quickly went to the bathroom, grabbing my clothes along the way. When I came out, they were all there waiting for me.

            “Where are the others?”

            “They went to get some coffee.” Niall said. On cue, Liam, Zayn and Jess entered the room.

            “Good to see you up.” Liam said.

            “Oh Allie!” Jess cried pulling me into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

            “It’s okay. I’m fine.” I said as I awkwardly patted her back.

            She let go, wiping at her eyes. She turned to Harry, “Can I talk to you?”

            Harry nodded and they left.

            “I can’t believe you.” Louis said.

            “What?” I asked.

            “Louis” Zayn warned.

            “Louis, cut it out she just got up.” Niall added.

            “Allie you’re in the hospital and your sister put you here. And here you are forgiving her again. Did nothing I say mean anything to you?” Louis seethed.

“It was an accident.” I mumbled out, a little shocked at Louis’ behavior. “Please Louis calm down.”

His gaze softened and he pulled me into his arms, “I’m sorry. I just don’t ever want to see you like that again.”

Niall nodded in agreement, “None of us do.”

“Your one of our best friends.” Zayn said.

“It might have been an accident, but we aren’t going to let another _accident_ happen” Liam said, the rest of them nodding in agreement. “Ever again.”


	15. The Protection Squad

            I really should pay better attention to what the boys say, especially when the alarms start going off. I mean it was right there in front of my face and I can’t believe I didn’t see it. Liam literally meant that they weren’t going to let me have another accident. Damnit, I thought it was some metaphor not a pact to treat me like glass. When we left the hospital, it was pretty normal, except for Louis not letting me walk and Niall patting my head like I was some puppy, but other then that normal. The first day went like this; I slept the end. The next day I wasn’t allowed to walk. Then Harry convinced Louis to let me walk, which lasted for all of two seconds. Day four came around and this time Liam held Louis down so I could walk. Today was day five, the day I had been dreading since the tour started. Today was the day we moved into the tour bus. I quickly got dressed and showered, all the while trying to mentally prepare for what was to come. I walked out of my room with my luggage in hand. The others were nowhere to be seen. I let out a sigh of relief. _No Louis._ Suddenly the lift dinged, freezing me in my tracks. Paul stepped out of the elevator giving me a sigh of relief. He headed towards me.

            “Allie, good to see you’re up. Everyone is downstairs waiting for you. Here let me take that.” He said grabbing my bag out of my hand.

            “Thank you.” I walked with him to the lift. I turned towards him, “When you say everyone you mean everyone right?”

            “Yes” He chuckled. I sighed, letting out a breath; I didn’t know I was holding. I pressed the down button and we waited for the lift.  Paul suddenly straightened, his face going pale, “Wait I was wrong.”

            “What do you mean you were wrong?”

            “He’s still up here.”

            “Who is?”

            A feeling of dread started to wash over me.

            “Louis”

            Right on cue, Louis came out of his room, with his luggage in hand. His eyes widened when they locked with mine. _Shit._ I started to hurriedly press the down button, willing it to go faster. I could hear his footsteps getting closer, increasing the feeling of panic that was washing over me. The lift doors opened, and I jumped inside, quickly pushing the close doors button.

            “I’ll distract him.” Paul said right before they closed.

            I pushed the button for the lobby and the lift started to descend.

            “Come on. Come on.” I mumbled, impatiently. The doors finally opened, and I stepped out of the lift to find the rest of them waiting for me. I quickly walked towards them, all the while looking around for any sign of him.

            “Good Morning” Niall said.

            “Morning “ I mumbled.

            “Allie are you all right? You seem a little paranoid.” Harry said. I sighed, not seeing any sign of him.

            I smiled, “I’m better now.”

            “Allie!” Louis shouted, running towards me

            “I spoke too soon.”

            When Louis Tomlinson comes running towards you at full speed, I did what any sane person would, I ran away screaming.

            “Which way!?!” I shouted.

            “To the left straight down and then to the right!” Zayn shouted.

            “Thanks!”

            I ran in the direction he told me to go. I ran past Liam, leaving him with a puzzled look on his face.

            “Allie, why are you running!?!” he shouted.

            “Louis!” I shouted.

            “Which way did she go?” Louis asked Liam. When Liam didn’t answer right away, Louis must have gotten impatient and taken off any way because I heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind me.

            “Louis, I thought we were passed this!” Liam shouted, starting to run after Louis.

            I could faintly hear Harry responding as he caught up with Liam, “Apparently not.”

            I burst through the back doors and saw my salvation, the tour bus. _Huh, never thought I’d think that._ I could hear him getting closer. I pushed myself harder; gaining the speed I desperately needed to out run him. I reached the tour bus door first and quickly jumped inside, locking it behind me. Louis skidded to a stop and tried to open the door. When that didn’t work he did what any male would do, he started to bang on it while screaming.

            “Allie open the door!”

            “Hmm let me think….nope!” I said, popping the “p”.

            “Please!”

            “No”

            “What’s with all the shouting!?!” Harry said.

            Louis turned to him, “Allie locked us out of the tour bus.”

            “Really? Well let me see about that.”

            Harry gently knocked on the door, “Allie, may I come in?”

             I unlocked the door and opened it just wide enough for Harry to slip through. Once he was in the bus, I quickly slammed the door, relocking it.

            “See Louis, it’s just you.” Harry said.

            He looked at me incredulously, “You let him in but not me?”

            I shrugged, “He asked politely.”

            Louis sighed, “Allie, may I please come in?”

            “No”

            “Why not!?! I asked politely! How would you feel if I locked you out?”

            “You have a point. But I’m still not letting you in. I’m sick of the way you are treating me.”

            “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll let you do whatever the hell you want.”

            “Whatever I want?”

            “Yes. If you want to go jump off a cliff, I won’t stop you.”

            I looked him over, before giving in and unlocking the door. He climbed into the bus, shooting me a smile.

            “Thank you.” He sighed. 

            Louis suddenly shot forward, reaching for me.

            I screamed, barely dodging him. I hid behind Harry as he stalked closer to me with a mischievous grin. His fingers wriggled as he came closer. _Ah hell no. I know where this is going._

            “Harry, I need you to distract him.” I whispered.

            “How?” He whispered back.

            “Like this.” I quickly shoved him forward, causing him to stumble and land on Louis, knocking them both to the ground. I jumped over them and ran to the door. Suddenly Niall opened the door, with wide eyes as I came running towards him.

            “Niall save me!” I yelled, jumping into his arms. He caught me and held me tight. “Go! Go! Go!”

            He just stood there and smiled.

            “Niall what are you doing? Move.”

            “Who said I was saving you?” He said.

            I gulped. I felt his fingers start to twitch, and I knew exactly what was coming.

            “Niall don’t you dare.”

            He shrugged, “You shouldn’t have done that to Louis. Sorry Allie, you’re going to get what’s coming to you.”

            “No!” I screeched as Niall started to tickle me. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp but he held me tight; I could not escape.

            “Please stop!” I laughed.

            Niall abruptly stopped. I sighed in relief. My relief was short lived however, for Niall put me on the couch and then proceeded to tickle me some more. I desperately wriggled about, trying to get away from him. I suddenly was able to move just out of his reach, giving me just enough to get up and bolt away from him.  Looking around I saw Louis had Harry in a headlock, for some weird reason. Louis saw me looking and quickly let go of Harry, coming towards me. Niall didn’t see me stop, and knocked into me. I flung my arms about, trying to stable myself. I grabbed onto Niall and took him down with me. Which in turn, cause both of us to fall on Louis, who fell on Harry, all of us falling into a heap on the floor.  Harry somehow ended up on top of me while Niall fell on Louis. Apparently, Niall did something Louis didn’t like because they were now wrestling with each other. I rolled my eyes at them.  _And I’m the one that needs protection? The two with the bum knees wrestling each other. Idiots._ I turned my head to look at Harry, and was met with piercing green eyes. I couldn’t seem to tear my gaze away from his. We stared into each other’s eyes, the world seeming to disappear around us. It was just us; nothing else seemed to matter. He broke his gaze, eyes flickering down to my lips. My breath hitched, I could smell the mint on his breath. He leaned in, his lips coming dangerously close to mine.           

            “What the hell is going on here!?!” Liam shouted.

            Harry bolted off of me and stood up, looking guilty.

            “Well is anyone going to tell me?”

            “I was just getting back at Allie for locking me out of the tour bus.” Louis said; letting Niall out of the headlock he had him in. Liam shook his head, not wanting to deal with us this early in the day. Harry went to the back of the bus, leaving me stunned on the ground. _Was he about to kiss me?_ I shook my head, ridding myself of those thoughts.   _Naahh. He has Jess remember? How could I forget?_

            “Allie are you okay?” Louis asked.

            I nodded, trying to forget what almost happened, well maybe if I was dreaming.

*******************************************************************************

            We were all sitting around the TV getting ready to watch a movie. We’ve been on the bus for two days now, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Jess and Harry weren’t that intolerable, but there was an awkwardness between Harry and I. Well at least I thought there was, it could be just me making it awkward because I had to make a mountain out of a mole hill. The boys had a concert later in the day and it would be the first one since the accident that I had been too. I was so excited for tonight. I loved seeing them on stage, having fun and doing what they loved. Liam was fiddling with the DVD player, getting it all set up for us.Zayn was sitting in a chair, his attention solely on his phone while Niall was in the kitchen popping popcorn. I plopped down on the couch, getting comfortable. Harry and Jess walked in, and instead of sitting together, like I thought they would, they sat on either side of me.

            “Jess wouldn’t you like to sit next to Harry?” I tentatively asked.

            “No silly, I want to sit next to you.  We haven’t watched a movie together in forever.” She replied smiling brightly.

            I was a little taken aback by her sudden cheerful demeanor. Louis walked in, much to my relief. I smiled, knowing he would break this “sisterly bonding” crap up. Much to my dismay, he seemed like he couldn’t be bothered by the fact that Harry and Jess were sitting on either side of me, and sat down by my feet. I didn’t like the situation, but I had to deal with it. No one would be coming to my rescue.

            “Niall, the movie is starting!” Liam shouted, backing away from the TV and sitting down in a chair. Niall walked in with two bowls of popcorn in his hands. He handed one to Liam before moving over to where Harry, Jess, and I were sitting. He tried to sit next to me, but Jess wouldn’t budge. He stood and shifted a bit so that his butt was directly in Jess’ face.

            “Ew! Niall get your butt out of my face.”

            “I’m sorry what was that?” Niall asked, wiggling his butt.

            “Hey, Niall didn’t you have beans today for lunch?” Louis asked.

            “So that’s why my stomach has been making noises.”

            I stifled a giggle as Jess face paled, realizing what they were implying. She scowled, scooting away from him. Niall sat down next to me with a triumphant smile on his face.

            I smiled at him and whispered, “Thanks”

            “Any time.” He whispered back. He looked up at the screen, “What are we watching?”

            “Paranormal Activity 4” Liam said.

            “Ah hell no” I exclaimed. I hated, no sorry loathed, scary movies. I just couldn’t tolerate them.

            “Allie come on its not even that scary.” Zayn said, turning his attention away from his phone.

            “No”

            “I’ll let you pick the next movie.” Liam said.

            I shook my head. He sighed, “Fine the next three.”

            “Deal”

            “Allie don’t worry, if it gets that bad, I’ll protect you.” Harry said.

            “No need I’ll protect her.”  Niall said, slinging his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him. I rested my head on his shoulder. I wiggled around a bit getting comfortable, before turning my attention back to the movie. I could feel someone’s gaze on me. I looked to see Harry slightly glaring at Niall. _What’s up with him today?_ I reluctantly tore my gaze away from Harry and back to the movie.

***********************************************************************************

            By the end of the movie, I had my face buried in Niall’s chest, his arms wrapped around me. Liam put the DVD back in its case and turned the TV off.

            “Thank God we didn’t watch that at night.” I said.

            “Baby” Louis muttered.

            I kicked him, resulting in a yelp of pain from him and a smile from me.

            “How much time we got?” Niall asked, Liam.

            “We’ve got about an hour and half.” He replied.

            “Well then, I’m going to take a shower.” I announced, standing up from my spot on the couch. Niall got up along with me. I shrugged it off thinking he was getting something from his bag. I went over to my bag and got out some clothes for the concert and my toiletries. I was wrong about Niall, when he tried to follow me into the bathroom.

            “Niall, what are you doing?”

            “I’m coming with you.” He said with a cheeky grin.

            I laughed, “I don’t think so.”

            “Yes, I think so. You need protecting.”

            “From what exactly? I’m just taking a shower.”

            “You don’t know what could happen if I’m not there. You could slip and fall.”

            “I’ve been taking showers for years, I’m pretty sure I can handle it.”

            “Well too bad, I’m coming in.”

            “No” I said, trying to push the door closed. Niall started to push against it, making me unable to push it close all the way. If I was going to get this crazy lad out, I’m going to have to be sneaky.

            I looked just past Niall’s shoulder and widened my eyes in shock, “OMG is that Liam with Nandos?”

            He quickly turned his head, “Where?”

            While his head was turned, I quickly shut the door, locking it in the process. Realizing that he was fooled, he started to pound on the door, “Allie let me in.”

            “No” I laughed.

            “At least unlock the door so I can come in, incase of an emergency.”

            “Hmm let me think…No!”

            “What’s all the commotion about?” I heard Louis ask through the door.

            “Louis, Niall wants to come in while I take a shower. Make him leave.”

            “What!?!”

            “Ow!” Niall whined. “What was that for? I was only joking.”

            “Sure you were you horny leprechaun. Now shoo, it’s my job anyways to watch her while she showers.”

            My cheeks burned red, “Louis!”

            “What?”

            “You’re not coming in either! Now both of you leave me alone.”

            “Nice try mate.” I heard Niall tell Louis.

            “It was worth a shot.” Louis mumbled.

            “Perverts!” I shouted. I turned to the shower and turned it on. Once the water was warm enough, I stepped in.  I let the water wash over me, relaxing my muscles and distracting my mind from the movie. I nodded off a bit here and there taking longer then I normally did in the shower. _Huh, I didn’t even know I was that tired._ I got out, drying myself off and putting on my clothes. I dried and slightly curled my hair before putting on some make up. When I was satisfied with my appearance, I walked out of the bathroom, with my stuff in hand. I put everything away and went to the front of the bus in search of the others. It was quiet, too quiet. _Calm down you’re just paranoid because of the movie._ Zayn was standing near the door, waiting for me. I looked around, confused as to why no one else was around.

            “Zayn, where is everybody?”

            “They all went to the venue already.”

            “I didn’t take that long did I?”

            He shook his head, “Everyone just got ready really fast and I said I would wait for you.”

            “Oh….Well thanks for waiting for me.”

            “No problem.”

            “You ready to go then?”

            He nodded, heading to the door. I followed quietly behind him. He walked down the steps and exited the bus. I was almost to the door when it swung shut, almost hitting me.

            “Zayn?” I called out.

            “What?” He replied, his gaze on the door.

            “What are you doing?” I asked a little uneasy at the fact that Zayn wasn’t looking at me. _I knew I shouldn’t have watched that movie._

            “I’m sorry.”

            “For what?”

            He didn’t answer, he just started to fiddle with the door.

            “Zayn, I don’t understand. What are you sorry for?”

            Again he remained silent.

            “Zayn, please. You’re scaring me.”

            He looked at me with a sad expression.

            “I’m sorry,” He said backing away from the door, an object that looked like a key in his hand.

            “For what!?!” I screamed, banging on the door. Panic started to set in as I realized that it was locked.

            “I’m sorry”

            “Zayn, if this is some kind of prank, I swear…”

            “This is no joke Allie. I’m sorry but I can’t let you go to the concert.”

            I let out a sigh of relief, “That is what this is about?”

             He looked at me, confused by my words. After I calmed down, my situation set in and I was overcome by anger.

            “Zayn, What the hell!?!” He looked a little relieved that I was yelling at him.            “Zayn! Unlock it right now!” I screamed.

            He shook his head, “I’m sorry I can’t.”

            “And why the hell not!?!” I took a deep breath trying to calm myself down. Yelling would get me nowhere. I looked at him with pleading eyes, “Zayn come on, please! What’s the big deal if I go? I’ve been to them before.”

            “No, we are not taking any chances.”

            My anger started to boil within me. _Who were they to treat me like I was made of glass!?! No, that I was a child!?!_

            “If you don’t open this door, I’m going to take a razor to your head!” I threatened.

            He gulped. I could see his resolve crumbling. He was going to unlock it. He reached into his pocket and took out the key. He went over to unlock the door.

            “Zayn! What are you doing!?!” Liam shouted.

            “I’m letting her out. We’re taking this a bit far don’t you think?” Zayn replied.

            “She threatened to shave your head didn’t she?”

            “Yup”

            “Give me the key.” Liam said.

            “Zayn, don’t you dare. Now, unlock the door.” I demanded.

            Zayn looked back and forth between Liam and I. Liam quickly moved forward snatching the key out of Zayn’s hand before he could choose.

            I groaned in frustration, “Damnit! Liam let me out!”

            “Go ahead. I’ll be there in a sec.” He told Zayn.

            “Liam let me out or I’ll…”

            “You’ll what Allie? Shave my head? Well I’ve already done that and I’m not afraid to do it again.”

            I glared at him. “Whose idea is this? Huh? To treat me like a fucking damsel in distress. Louis?”

            “Louis had nothing to do with decision if that’s what your thinking. He doesn’t even know.”

            “What do you mean he doesn’t even know!?! He’s the one who wouldn’t let me walk for four days!”

            “Yes, but he didn’t stop you from having fun. He’s not going to ruin the little time you have when you really enjoy yourself. He won’t do it, so I have to.”

            “Why!?! Why is it so important to you!?! Whether I go or not!”

            “Because I don’t trust her! She’s proven that she can’t be trusted. Anything could happen to you and she could easily blame it on a fan like last time. She’s messed up and you’re too fucking naïve to see it! She’ll hurt you again and this time it will be worse. And I refuse to see them like that again! I refuse!”

            “What?”

            “You heard me I refuse to see Louis looking so broken while he held you in his arms, like he’d never be happy again if you didn’t look at him one more time. And don’t even get me started on….” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter because this conversation is over. And you are not going to tell Louis what happened. You’re going to tell him, you were tired and didn’t feel like it. He’ll understand.” He turned his back towards me, walking away.

            “And what if I do tell him, tell him everything? What are you going to do?”

            He stopped, not once glancing back at me, “I know you aren’t going to tell him anything, because he’s going to tell you everything.”


	16. Confessions

**Louis’ P.O.V**

           “Where’s Allie?” I asked, confused as to why Zayn had turned up empty handed.

           “She’s with Liam.” He replied, quickly pushing past me, going to go get ready for the concert. _What’s up with him?_ I wondered as to why Allie didn’t go with Zayn. _Maybe she needed more time to get ready?_ I shook my head. _No, that couldn’t be it. She never takes that long._ I started to get more and more worried, when they still didn’t show up. The minutes dragged on, feeling like hours.

           “Hi Louis.”

           I turned around, relieved at the sound of Liam’s voice. My brow furrowed in confusion when I saw that he was alone.

           “Where’s Allie? Zayn said she was with you.”

           Not looking me in the eye as he spoke, “She said she wasn’t feeling good and is lying down in the tour bus.”

           “She was fine when we left, excited even.”

           Liam shrugged, leaving to go find the others. I stood there debating whether or not I should go check on her. _Then again maybe I shouldn’t. She’s been pretty fed up with the way I’ve been treating her lately. It might be best to just let her be._ I turned, quickly catching up to Liam. We went to the room where the others and Jess were currently in.

           “Where’s Allie?” Harry asked, wearing a similar expression to mine a few minutes ago when I first saw Liam.

           “Sleeping in the tour bus. She wasn’t feeling good.” Liam said.

           “Aww!! I was looking forward to spending time with my sister while rocking out to you guys.” Jess pouted.

           “Yeah, I’m sure you were.” I thought I heard Liam mumble, slightly glaring at the black haired girl.

            I sat down on the couch in a huff, “This sucks. She was really looking forward to tonight.”

            Jess giggled at me and I gave her a strange look. _What’s wrong with this bitch now?_

           “Maybe I should go check on her.” Niall said, starting to get up.

           “No!” Liam and Zayn shouted. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the two boys.

            Liam cleared his throat, “I mean there’s no need she’s probably fine. Just wants some time alone. Louis and you have been kind of smothering her.”

            “Hey! I have not been smothering her!”

            “Yes you have.” Jess said, before giggling again. I glared at her. “I think it’s rather cute actually. It just shows how much you really love her.”

            I slightly froze, feeling as if I was walking into a trap. Harry and Niall, I think, was the only one who didn’t know how I felt about Allie. I looked at Harry from out of the corner of my eye, trying to gage his reaction as I spoke, “Of course I do. She’s one of my best mates.”

            “No silly Lewis.” She teased, continuing with that horrendous giggling. “You are in love with her. You want to be more than friends with her. I’m on your side. I totally ship Loulie.”

            Harry slightly stiffened almost as if he was slightly in shock. I narrowed my eyes at her.

            “First of all it’s Louis. Secondly, I’m not. Thirdly what the hell is Loulie?”

            “It’s your guys’ ship name.”

            “Jess I think you should stop. You’re making him and everyone in the room uncomfortable.” Harry said.

            “Come on now. Stop denying it everyone knows it.” Jess said

            “I didn’t.” Harry mumbled, under his breath. I wouldn’t have even heard him if I hadn’t been sitting close to him.

            “Fine! I’m in love with her!! Are you happy now!?!?!?” I shouted, getting on my feet.

            “No”

            “What the fuck do you mean no?”

            “I will only be happy if you tell her how you feel.”

            “No, now get the fuck out of my love life.”

            “You will tell her by the end of tomorrow or I will.”

            “Jess!”

            “What the hell is wrong with you!?!” Niall yelled.

            Liam and Zayn were strangely quiet. Probably not wanting to make a bigger mess out of everything.

            “What?” She asked innocently.

            “My love for Allie is none of your business.”

            “She’s my sister, so it kind of is.”

            “No it isn’t!!” All of us boys shouted at her.

            “I just want to see her happy!!!” Jess shouted right back at us.

            “Sure you do.” I said glaring at her. “That’s why you pulled her out of Harry’s arms, knocking her to the ground.”

            “It was an accident!”

            “Like hell it was!”

            “That’s enough!!” Harry shouted, getting between the two of us. He turned towards Jess, “You shouldn’t have done that. You have no right to give him any kind of ultimatum. He’ll do it when he’s ready.”

            I smirked at her, a smug look plastered on my face as her angry eyes bore into mine. Jess huffed, abruptly leaving the room, clearly mad. Harry sighed before going after her.

            “I’ll never understand what he sees in her.” I mumbled.

            Liam shook his head agreeing, “But I have to give her one thing though. She is kind of right.”

            “What!?!” Niall and I shouted.

            He looked at the two of us wearily, “Calm down. I only meant that she’s right about telling Allie how you feel. And you need to do it soon.”

            “Why?”

            “Harry knows now and we all know he’s got a big mouth. It will just slip right out of him and I’m pretty sure that’s not how you wanted her to find out.”

            I scratched my neck in thought.

            “You’re right.” I huffed.

            “When have I ever not been right?”

            Zayn opened his mouth to speak but Liam cut him off, slightly glaring at the Bradford boy as he spoke, “Not about that.”

            “Lou if it makes you feel any better. I like tots like ship Loulie.” Niall said, trying to sound like a girl. Zayn and Liam started to laugh at Niall. I shook my head at Niall, laughing along as well.

            “Seriously though, where does she come up with this stuff?” Zayn asked to no one in particular.

            I shrugged, “Probably the same lame deep dark pit that Harry gets his knock knock jokes from.”

            “Hey! My jokes are hysterical.” Harry said, as he came back into the room, thankfully, with no Jess.

            “Yea sure keep telling yourself that.” Harry stalked over to the couch sitting down in a huff. “Come on I was just joking. I’m sorry.”

            He grinned at me, “It’s okay. I’m just messing with you.”

            I grinned back. “I knew it.” I mumbled.

            “So what happened with Jess?” Niall asked. Why the hell he had to bring her up I will never know.

            “She’s off having a moment. She’ll get over it. I’m not going to help her this time, she was wrong and she knows it.” He turned to me, “I’m sorry about her. You better listen to her though ‘cause there’s not a doubt in mind that she’s going to tell her tomorrow if you don’t.”

            “Yeah I know. That bitch.” I said, mumbling the last part so Harry wouldn’t hear.

            “Ok let’s get back to getting ready, we’ll be on soon.” Liam told us.

*******************************************************************

            We were all hyped up as we made our way back to the bus, after the concert. My ears were still ringing a bit from the screams, but it was still amazing. I only wish that Allie had been there to see it. We entered the bus making quite a racket.

            “Guys quite down. Allie is asleep.” Liam said.

            We all immediately quieted down. Jess, Harry, Niall, and Zayn all went off to bed, leaving Liam and I alone. We sat on the couch watching T.V, as it seems that neither of us could go to bed just yet. After awhile, we were the only ones still up. Liam lowered the volume down on the T.V and turned towards me.

            “You are going to tell her right?” He asked.

            “Sorry, who? I wasn’t really paying attention.” I replied.

            “You know who, Allie.”

            “Oh, yeah I’m going to tell her.”

            “When?”

            “What is with everybody? I will tell her when I’m ready.”

            He gave me a look, “And that would be when? She has a right to know.”

            “I know. I’m planning on telling her tomorrow.”

            “Good for you.” He stood up turning off the T.V. “I think it would be best if we both went to bed. You’re going to need you’re rest.” 

            “Why can’t you be wrong for once?”

            He grinned, “We all can’t be as perfect as me.”

            “Shut up” We headed to our bunks and climbed in. “Night Liam.”

            “Night Louis”

            I, strangely, quickly drifted off to sleep.

************************************************************

            I groaned getting out of my bunk. I quickly made my way to the bathroom, getting ready. I took a little longer than usual, trying to look my best. I was going to do it today, in a few hours actually. No more waiting, it was time for me to man up and tell her how I really feel. It’s going to either be one of the best or worst days of my life. I made my way to the tour bus kitchen. Allie was trying to reach one of the bowls in the top cabinet. I grinned, taking her in. Her hair was down in waves and she wore some dark jean shorts, a white lacey tank top, and converse. She looked beautiful.

           “Need some help?” I asked, walking over to her

           She spun around, surprised, “I didn’t think you’d be up this early.”

           I shrugged, “I felt like getting up early for a change.”

           She rolled her eyes, “Yeah right, like that’s going to last.”

           “Hey, if I didn’t get up no one would be here to help you.”

           “I would have figured it out on my own.”

           “So, what’s for breakfast?”

           “Cereal.”

           “Hey, I got a better idea. Instead of some boring cold cereal, do you want to go out and get something to eat?”

           “Sure”, she smiled. “Just let me go grab my jacket.”

           A couple minutes she returned and we were off. We drove, singing along to some tunes on the radio. Luckily for us the venue was close to a couple local diners, and we easily found one that we could both agree on. I parked the car and headed inside. It was a quaint little diner, with a retro American 50s theme. We were seated down in a booth and quickly ordered and got our meals. We ate in silence. Allie was the first to break the silence.

           “Louis are you feeling okay?” She asked, concerned with how little of my food I was eating. _I’m about to pour my heart out to you and hope for the best. So I’m just peachy._            

           “I’m fine, just not as hungry as I thought.” I lied. She shrugged.

           “So how was the concert last night?”

           “It was amazing. I wish you had been there to see it though. Niall did the best imitation of Jess ever, I was dying.”

           “Me too.”

           “What happened? Why didn’t you come? Before we left you were just fine, what changed?”

           She froze. Something must of have crossed her mind that made her like this. She shook her head, looking down at her plate as she spoke, “I was tired that’s all.”

           She was clearly lying.

            “That clearly wasn’t the reason, what happened?”

            “Nothing, Louis.”

            “You can tell me. It’s okay.”

            “Nothing happened. I was tired. Can you just drop it?”

            “Fine, but I will get it out of you eventually.”

            “Sure you will. Well now that we are on the topic of not telling each other things, what is it you need to tell me?”

            I froze. _No, no, no, no, no, this is not how I wanted it to go._ My voice shook as I spoke, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

            “Well look who’s lying now.”

            “So you were lying.”

            “Shut up. I heard you talking to Liam last night.”

            “But you were asleep.”

            “Oh please you guys were not at all quiet when you came back, it would have taken a miracle for that racket not to wake me up.”

            “It was nothing. I’ll tell you later. Don’t you worry.”

            For once she dropped it. We finished eating in silence, and I paid the bill.

            “Are you ready?” I asked.

            She nodded, getting out of her seat. She grabbed onto my hand as we walked back to the car. Her hand was small and soft in mine. I couldn’t stop the grin that broke out. I opened her car door for her, as she climbed in. I closed it and jogged over to my side of the car. I got in and started the car. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the venue. _Do it. You’re never going to get another chance. Do it now._

            “Louis what are you doing?” She asked, as I pulled the car off to the side and parked it. “Is everything okay?”

            I turned to her, looking her right in her beautiful brown eyes, “Everything’s just fine.”

            “Than why did you pull over?”

            I took a deep breath. _Come on Lou, it’s now or never._ “Remember that thing I have to tell you, well I’m going to tell you now.” She sat there patiently waiting. I took another deep breath. “You know how sometimes we meet a person, and then bam! Your life just seems so simple. Allie, your that person for me. Everything just seems so simple and carefree with you, but it’s not really is it?”

            “Louis I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

            “Here let me explain it this way. Every little thing in my life makes sense when I’m with you. The sky seems bluer and the grass greener. The whole world is brighter, when you are by my side. I feel as if nothing can bring me down when I’m with you. When you were in the hospital, no matter how many times the doctor said you were going to be just fine, that your injuries were minor, I couldn’t stop this feeling of despair from over coming me. I couldn’t live with the thought of never seeing your smile again, hearing your laugh, how cute you get when you blush, or even how you yell at me till your voice is hoarse when I do something stupid. I haven’t been able to breathe when you’re near, ‘cause you took my breath away the moment I first saw you. You are absolutely beautiful and nothing you say or do will ever change my mind. I hate that you can’t see what I see. You’re perfect to me. I break out into a stupid grin every time I see you. And you make my heart beat so fast that I think it’s going to burst from my chest. From the first moment I saw you; you changed my life forever. Nothing was ever the same, because…” I took a deep breath, “I’m in love with you Allie.”

 

 

 


	17. The Escape

**_Recap: “I’m in love with you Allie.”_ **

            Shock. It’s something quite powerful when you think about it. It can leave even the most vocal person speechless. Shock makes the whole world freeze and go “What the hell just happened”. It leaves us dumbfounded and unable to process what is right in front of us and that, right now, couldn’t have fit me better. If I had to choose one word to describe that moment, that would be it. Shock. That was all I was feeling, shock. There was no other feeling, no pity, no sadness, no guilt, but most importantly there was no mutual feeling. Shock, that was all my brain could process at the moment. It was like my brain just decided to up and leave for an extensive vacation, because I just couldn’t function. I wanted to give him something, some sign that I understood what he said, or better yet what I felt, but I couldn’t. I just sat there, mute, starring blankly at him.

            “Allie?’ He asked, worried. _Shit, no._ His words seemed to unfreeze my brain. Everything came crashing down on me. I couldn’t handle it. I felt my heart start quicken and the walls of the car started to close in. My breathing became rapid. _Louis is in love with me. He’s in love with me._

            “Allie?”

 _Say something._ I opened my mouth but no sound came out. _What is wrong with me?_ I couldn’t seem to do anything but sit there. I started to panic. _What if he thinks I don’t love him back? Do I love him?_ I never really thought about it. Did I love Louis like that? I’ve been so caught up in Harry, that I never saw what was right in front of me. And now here it was staring me in the face, begging me to say something. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. _What was I going to do?_ My head started to spin. I looked into his blue eyes. Worry all over his features. _Oh God what could he be thinking!_

“Allie, please talk to me!” He pleaded. _Say something!_

“Louis, I-I…”

He looked a little relieved that I had said something.

“What is it?” He asked. I undid my seat belt and turned to face him.

Tears started to fill my eyes, “I-I…Louis, I-I…..” I shook my head. “I can’t… I can’t breath.”

I flung open the car door and jumped out of the car. I hunched over taking deep gulps of air. Unfortunately, it did little to help the situation. I stood up, turning towards Louis, who was still sitting in the car. A few tears escaped, as I spoke, “I’m sorry. I-I need a minute.”

With that I ran. I ran back the way we had just came. I didn’t want to go back to the venue. That wouldn’t help the situation at all.

“Allie!” Louis shouted.

I didn’t look back. I pushed harder, desperately trying to escape. I didn’t want him to catch up to me. I couldn’t handle it right now. My thoughts were all over the place. I couldn’t make sense of anything, and I knew if I had stayed it wouldn’t have gotten any clearer. So I ran. I ran away from the car, away from Louis, away from all of my problems.

************************************************************************************

**Louis’ P.O.V**

I should have known. I should have known the moment she said she couldn’t breathe. I should have known she would have tried to run. That’s what she did when she found out about her sister and Harry. She ran. I bolted out of the car as soon a she started to sprint.

            “Allie!” I called out, desperately trying to reach her. She might think she needs to be alone right now, but I can’t let her go off like this, alone in a foreign city and country. I turned the corner, only a few minutes behind her. I skidded to a stop; she was nowhere to be found. _Where the hell could she have gone?_ I started to panic. _What if someone hurts her?_ I ran through the streets, frantically looking for her.

            “Allie!” I screamed. Unfortunately, it got me nothing but strange looks from people. After awhile, I started to panic. _Think Louis._ I pulled out my phone, quickly dialing Liam. He picked up right after the first ring.

            “Oh thank god. We were just about to go looking for you. Louis, where are you? And is Allie with you?” He asked.

            “I told her everything Liam.”

            “You did? What’d she say?”

            “She didn’t say much of anything, before she ran away. Liam, I’ve been searching everywhere, I can’t find her.

            “She what!?! It’ll be okay Louis. We’ll help you find her. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

            “Liam, it’s all my fault. If I had just waited till we got back or better yet have kept my damn mouth shut, this would have never have happened. What if she get’s hurt? I’ll never forgive myself.”

            “Louis, take a deep breath. We’ll find her. Don’t worry. Where are you?” I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was standing outside of a small coffee shop with a name I couldn’t hope to pronounce. What made this shop stand out to me was the front window. It was a huge single pane of glass with black molding. In the middle of the window were two coffee cups with a banner running between the two. It looked a lot like the front window of the coffee shop in “Friends”.

            “Outside of a coffee shop with a name I can’t pronounce and a front window like the one in ‘Friends’.” I told Liam.

            “Louis that doesn’t help, I need an address.”

            “Ok hold on.” I jogged over to the door, and quickly went in. I ran to the counter and asked the cashier the address. She gave it to me and I relayed it to Liam, before high tailing it out of there before I could be recognized.

            “We’ll be there in five.” Liam said.

            “Thank you Liam.”

            “Don’t mention it. Oh and Louis, breathe. Everything will be okay.”

            “Liam, don’t tell or bring Jess.”

            “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

            True to his word, Liam, Niall, Harry and Zayn pulled up, only five minutes after I had called Liam. Harry jumped out of the car, storming towards me.

            “How could you let her go off like that!?!” Harry yelled, getting into my face. “She could be hurt somewhere with no way of contacting us!! What the hell were you thinking!?!?!”

                        “Don’t you think, I know that! I tried stopping her! But I couldn’t and I won’t forgive myself if something happens to her!” I yelled, pushing him off me. “At least I tried unlike some people.”

            “I-“

            “Enough!” Niall shouted cutting Harry off. “Fighting isn’t going to change anything. Allie is still missing. We have to go find her, not bicker like five year olds.” He turned towards me, “Where have you looked.”

            I scratched the back of my head, “Maybe half of a 20 block radius from the car.”

            “Okay, now where would she go?” Niall asked.

            “The last time she ran away from something, she came to me. I don’t think that’s going to work for this situation.”

            “Well she won’t come running to either Zayn or me.” Liam said.

            Zayn mumbled something that almost sounded like something along the lines of _not after what we did,_ but I couldn’t be sure. I pushed what I thought I heard, out of my mind. _That could be dealt with later; there are more important things to care of right now._

            “Maybe she’ll come looking for me.” Niall said, with a little bit of hope in his voice.

            “I’m sorry mate, but I don’t think so. You were at the tour bus and she might think that you are still there. And we all know she won’t go there because of Jess.” I told him. His face slightly fell, when he realized that I was right.

            “So, so far we’ve came up with nothing and are not one step closer to finding her.” Zayn pointed out.

            “Well thank you for that Mr. Positive.” I mocked.

            “Maybe we should call the police?” Niall suggested.

            “I don’t think we can. I’m almost certain that they have to be missing for 24 hours before they can help.” Liam said.

            “Well that was a good try Niall.” I told him.

            “Wait, I got it! Is there a park?” Harry asked.

            “Hold on let me check.” Liam said, taking out his phone. “There seems to be two and one has a library near by it. She might be in there, if she needed to cool down or something.”

            “It’ll go faster if we split up.” Zayn said. We nodded our heads in agreement.

            “Ok, Niall and Zayn with me. We’ll take the park with the Library. And you and Harry take the other park.” Liam said.

            We all nodded in agreement, and started to run in the direction of the parks. After awhile of running, we came to a busy intersection.

            “Which way?” Niall asked.

            “Left” Liam said.

            “Right” Harry said.

            “Well it looks like here is where we split up.” Liam said. He turned to Harry and I, “Good luck.”

            “You too.” Harry replied.

            Niall, Liam and Zayn ran off to the left while we took the right. I followed Harry, because he had the directions on his phone.

            “How much farther?” I asked.

            “A few minutes.” He replied.

            “Let’s hurry than.” I said, running out in front of him. Harry started to run behind me, telling me when to turn. Soon enough we reached the park. It didn’t look too big, a few trees here and there, green grass everywhere, and a couple of benches along a walkway.

            “We’ll find her faster if we split up.” Harry said. I did not like this idea at all. I didn’t want Harry to find her; I needed to be the one to find her. She didn’t need any more drama right now.

            But, knowing that he was right, I reluctantly gave in, “Ok”

            I gestured off to my left, “You go that way and I’ll go this way.”

            He nodded, “We’ll meet back here in 20.”

            “Got it.”

            I ran off, Harry going the opposite way, and started searching. _I hope she’s okay, and that Harry doesn’t find her before I do._            

***********************************************************************************

**Allie’s P.O.V**

**Earlier…..**

            I continued to run, not once looking back as his shouts started to fade. I didn’t care that what I was doing was stupid. All I cared about was getting far, far away. I couldn’t deal with it. I feel awful, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t deal with Louis’ gaze boring into mine as I tried to figure out my feelings. I was holding his heart in my hands and one wrong word could destroy it. I stopped, taking a breather, and took in my surroundings. Nothing looked familiar, and why would it? I had never been here before. I was just doing _fucking_ great so far today. I was standing outside of a little coffee shop. The front window of the shop looked like it came right of the set of “Friends”. _Maybe I should call Louis._ My gut started to twist with apprehension at the mere thought. I wasn’t ready to face him. Especially now that I ran away from him right after he poured his heart out to me. There had to be someone else I could call. I reached into my pocket to pull out my phone. My eyes widened in horror as my hand came into contact with the inside of my pocket. Empty. I silently cursed, realizing in my haste and current emotional state, I’d left my phone in the car. _I could go into the coffee shop and ask to use their phone._ I shook that thought out of my head. I needed to think and anyone I called right now, wouldn’t help. I needed to be alone.

            “Allie!” Louis called out, sounding like he was only a few blocks away. My eyes widened in fear and I quickly ran. I couldn’t face him yet. I wasn’t ready. I needed time. I kept running until I came to a busy intersection. I caught my breath as I tried to decide which way to go. _Left or right?_

             “Allie!” I heard him call out again. He sounded slightly farther away, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. Not giving it much thought, I quickly made a decision and sprinted the direction I choose. I ran until my sides hurt. _I really needed to get into shape_. I slowed down, looking for a place to hide and collect my thoughts. Then I saw it, a small local park. It had a little pathway and grass, but more importantly it had trees. I ran inside, trying to find a little corner of the park where no one would find me. After a couple of minutes of searching, I found a corner of the park, where there was no one in sight. There were a couple benches and picnic tables scattered about with huge trees, which provided shade from the hot sun. I ran up to trees looking for anything low enough for me to climb up on. I quickly found a good size tree with branches low enough for me to reach and enough cover so that no one would see me. I grabbed onto the first branch, hoisting myself up. I climbed and climbed, until I saw a branch wide and sturdy enough to hold my weight. I pulled myself up onto the branch, straddling it like a horse. I slide back, careful not to get any splinters, until my back was against the trunk of the tree. I couldn’t be sure but I thought I was bout 7 to 10 feet up. The bark was hard and cold, yet somehow it was comforting to me. I pulled my knees to my chest and loosely held my arms around them. I rested my head against my knees, looking out at my surroundings. It was like I was in some dreamlike state when I ran away. I pushed it to the back of mind only briefly thinking about it. Now that I was alone and hidden, it all came crashing down on me. The tears started to flow as I thought about what I had done. It made my stomach twist as I felt the guilt of my actions. I was a horrible person. I left him standing there right after he confessed everything to me. _How could I be so heartless?_ He’s probably beating himself up about it, all because I’m a shitty person. I was stupid. I let love blind me and let myself become so obsessed with this hope, no fantasy that it would all work out and my dreams of love would come true. I was so blinded I couldn’t see what right in front of me. Looking back at it now, it was obvious how in love with me Louis was. Maybe I was being naïve and thought it to be nothing. Or maybe I was so obsessed that I pushed the feelings of others aside, just so I didn’t have to give up the fantasy. Maybe I love him like he loves me and I just don’t know because all I could think about was Harry. I thought I was trying to move on, but I never really was. Louis’ confession made it clear as day. I was stuck up on a dream that would never be. All this obsession has left me with is heartbreak and confusion. I wanted so badly to tell Louis’ I loved him back, but I couldn’t. I mean I was still hung up on his best friend and he deserved better than me. And I didn’t even know if I was, because me being selfish had never given him a second thought. I let this ruin a good chance for me to have happiness and move on, but I screwed up. I was stupid, so stupid. _How could I be so stupid? No, selfish._ There I was pouring my heart out to him, telling him, telling him how much it sucked to love someone who didn’t love you back, and all the while there he was suffering alone. _I didn’t see it. How could I have not seen it?_ I was too self absorbed. No I am too self absorbed. I went through the worst day of my life, while he already went through his. He was there for me, but I wasn’t there for him. He will never talk to me again. I don’t see how he could. _I’m no better than Jess._ I hugged my knees tighter as sobs racked through my body.

            “Allie?” I heard a familiar voice call from below. I clung closer to the trunk of the tree, trying to blend in, praying that they wouldn’t see me. They were the last person I wanted to see right now.

            “Found you.”


	18. Let's Talk

            I curled in on myself further, shrinking back against the tree.

            “Just cause you moved doesn’t mean I didn’t already see you Allie.” He said. “Are you going to come down, or am I going to have to go up and get you?”

            I remained silent.

            “Ok looks like I’m coming up.” I heard him grabbed onto a branch, using it to haul himself up the tree, towards me. After a few minutes, I heard shuffling off to my left as he climbed onto my branch. I peeked through my knees to see him straddling the branch so that he was sitting right in front of me.

            “Now that I’m up here, are you going to talk to me?” He asked. I remained silent, keeping my gaze down and my head on my knees. He sighed, “You don’t have to talk, just look at me. Come on Allie. Please just look at me.”

            I ignored his pleas and let my tears continue to silently fall down my cheeks. I felt his hands cup my face, forcing me to look at him. My vision blurred, as the tears seemed to flow out faster now. He tried to wipe them away with the pad of his thumb. I wouldn’t look into his eyes; cause I knew all I would see was pity. And pity was something I didn’t need right now. I pulled his hands away from my face, trying to increase the distance

            “Go away Harry.” I told him.

            “Now why would I do that when I just found you?” He replied.

            “I don’t want to talk to you.”

            “You wound me Allie. I’m wounded. I thought you could always talk to me.”

            “Not about this.” I mumbled, hoping it was just quiet enough to escape his ears.

            “Why not?” I silently cursed, as the question escaped his lips.

            “Does it really matter? I don’t want to talk to you now leave.”

            “But you can talk to me. I’ll always be there for you. I thought you knew that.”

            “That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t know that. There was one person who I could count on to always be there for me and I screwed it up. And now he hates me. He’ll never talk to me again. How could I have been so stupid and naïve not to see what was right in front of me?”

            “Sometimes we can’t see what’s right in front of us, not because we don’t see it but because we are too afraid to admit that we do. Cause we know that if we do, everything will change. So, we make ourselves believe that it isn’t there, that we are too late and it isn’t worth a second thought. When it might be the greatest thing that will ever happen to you.”

            I looked up surprised at his words. I stared, searching for a glimmer of something in his eyes to find the meaning behind his words. But I quickly squashed that hope down. I was grasping at straws, seeing things that weren’t there, and once again letting my obsession with Harry take over. I needed to figure out what I felt about Louis not trying to read into things that aren’t there with Harry.

            There was pain in his voice, as he spoke “Allie, Louis doesn’t hate you He never could, he loves you.”

            “That’s the problem. Isn’t it? He loves me and I couldn’t even give him an answer. I just ran away, letting him think the worst.” I sobbed. He pulled me into his arms, my tear stained face resting against his chest, probably ruining his shirt. I felt safe and secure in his arms, which only made me cry a little harder. I was doing it again. I needed to sort out my feelings about Louis, not Harry I reminded myself.

            “Yeah, it wasn’t the best thing you could have done.” I glared at him. “Well I’m certainly not going to sugar coat it for you. You screwed up. But you know what? You’re only human. We all make mistakes. You just need to try to calm down and just tell Louis how you feel. Don’t be afraid of the truth.”

            “But that’s the thing. I never thought about it. I don’t know. I think I might be in love with him, but I was too hung up on someone else to see it. And now that I know how he feels, I see me for who I truly am. What I did to him makes me no better than-“

            “No better than who?”

            “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that no matter what I feel, all I do is hurt Louis.”

            “You’re only hurting him by not telling him how you feel.”

            “And what would you like me to tell him? That I don’t know?”

            “Its better than nothing. He thinks its all his fault and he’s worried sick about you. Please let’s get down from this tree and just tell him what you can.”

            “I’ll just hurt him again.”

            “You’ll hurt him either way.”

            “You’re right.”

            “Wait a minute I didn’t quite hear you, did you just tell me I was right?”

            “Shut up” I said, slightly pushing him. His arms flayed out catching himself.

            He put his hand over his heart, “Hey you could have killed me!”

            “Drama Queen”

                        We quickly climbed down, Harry first than me. When we reached the bottom, I quickly pulled Harry into a hug.

            “Thank you.”

            “Don’t mention it.” He said, pulling his mouth into a faint smile.

            “Are you okay?” I asked.

            “I’m fine.” He pulled his lips into a grin, but his eyes showed that he wasn’t feeling it. “Let’s go find Louis.”

            He started walking, me following close behind. After a few minutes of walking in silence, we came to the entrance of the park.

            “This is where we said we would meet up.” He told me. I nodded. We sat down on a nearby bench and waited for Louis to show up.

            I turned towards Harry, “Harry, how did you find me?”

            “I knew you were probably upset and you would try to go some place quiet and outdoors. I remembered the time when we little and you overheard your parents talking about the possibility of moving again. You got so upset that you ran away and hid in a tree. ”

            I faintly smiled, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “I remember that. You were the one who found me that day too. I remember you climbing up the tree to where I was, and when you finally convinced me to come down, you got stuck. You were too afraid to make the climb back. I had to go run and get our parents to come and help you get down.”

            “I was not afraid. My foot got caught.” He huffed.

            “On what? And imaginary branch?” I teased.

            “Shut up” He pouted.

            I looked up at him catching his eyes,  “You always seem to find me, don’t you.”

            His eyes softened, all the playfulness gone away, as he leaned a little closer to me, “Allie, I’ll-“

            “Allie!” Louis shouted, running over to us, effectively stopping Harry from finishing what he was saying. He pulled me out of my seat, crushing me into a hug, “Allie I’m so sorry. I thought I’d lost you. I shouldn’t have said it. I’m sorry.”

            I felt my eyes grow hot and it took everything in me not to start sobbing. I gulped, breaking out of the hug with Louis and turning my head towards Harry.

            “Harry could you give us a minute?” I asked. He nodded, standing up and walked off in the direction Louis had come from.

            I felt the tears start to leak from my eyes, as I looked him in the eyes, “Louis, you don’t have to apologize for anything, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m so sorry Louis.”

            “Shh it’s okay.”

            “No it isn’t. I ran away and made you worry, instead of just telling you how I feel. You didn’t deserve to go through that.”

            “How do you feel about me?” He asked.

            I took a deep breath, “I’m not sure. I know I love you, I just don’t know if I love you like you love me.”

            “Wait you love me?” He asked, a stupid grin on his face. I hate seeing him so hopeful, knowing that I was going to crush him. I needed to get through to him.

            “Did you hear a thing I just said? Or does your brain just shut off as soon as the words ‘I love you’ escape my lips?”

            “I heard you. I just thought that after I told you that I was in love you, that you hated me.”

            “I would hate you? Why would I do that? If there is anyone who should be hated here it should be me. I treated you horribly. You went through so much pain and I wasn’t there for you, yet you were there for me. I couldn’t see what was right in front of me. I was your Jess and Harry all rolled into one. I’m so sorry.” I sobbed, as fat alligator tears rolled down my cheeks.

            “Oh love, I don’t hate you. And don’t you dare compare yourself to Jess again. You are so much better than that bitch. You didn’t know, unlike her.”

            “Jess didn’t know either.”

            “I’m not to sure about that. But that’s not the point, I can’t hate you for not seeing every little detail in your life.”

            “I just wish I had a better answer than I didn’t know. I wish I could tell you that I’m in love you with too.” _But how was I to tell?_ I needed to know now, if what I felt for him was more than friendly. There wouldn’t be another moment like this. I had to seize this opportunity. _I’m not going to make the same mistake twice._ Then it hit me; I knew exactly what to do.

            “Louis, can try something?” I asked.

            “What are you tal-“ I quickly grabbed his face, crashing my lips to his, cutting him off in the process. He stood frozen, still in shock about what was going on. And to be truth full so was I. He tried kissing me back, but something was off about this kiss.

            “Oh shit, sorry.” Harry said, eyes wide. Louis and I jumped apart, a slight blush rising to my cheeks.           

            He fumbled with his words, trying to quickly get out of the awkward situation, “I called Liam and they’re on their way with the car. I’m just going to go get lost in the woods.”

            He quickly stalked off, leaving Louis and I alone again. I turned, sheepishly looking at him, “So, that was awkward.”

            “Yup”

            “How was it for you?” I tentatively asked.

            “Well how was it for you?” He retorted, trying to escape my question.

            “Oh no, I asked you first.” There was no way I was going to be the first one to answer that question what if I said something and Louis didn’t feel the same way? It would be a disaster.

            “I’m not going first.” He protested.

            “Well neither am I.” I retorted.

            “How about we say it at the same time?”

            “On three.”

            “Okay”

            “One”

            “Two”

            “Three!”

            “It was like kissing my-“ We shouted at the same time our voices perfectly in sync as the words fell from our lips.

            “Brother”

            “Sister”

We both look at each other slightly relieved at what the other had said.

            “So you feel the same way?” I tentatively asked. Making sure this wasn’t something my brain was cooking up to make me feel better about not being in love with Louis.

            “I’m sure. It looks like I confused what I felt for you to be romantic.”

            “I’m sorry that it couldn’t have been. I think we’d both be happier if the kiss had gone a different way.”           

            “Yeah, but now we can find who truly belong with.”

            “That’s easy for you to say. You aren’t obsessing over your best friend anymore.”

            “When was I in love with Harry?” I playfully punched him in the arm. “Ow! I was just kidding.”

            He started to rub his arm, “Do you think it will bruise?”

            “I swear both you and Harry are such babies.”

            I knew that things weren’t quite the way they were between us, and that they wouldn’t be for a while. But this wouldn’t ruin our friendship. We would always be there for the other when we were needed. This was just the beginning of us getting back to normal.

********************************************************************************

**Harry’s POV**

            “Allie I’ll-“ I started to say but was cut off by Louis shouting out for Allie. I mentally cursed. _He couldn’t have waited a few more seconds before screaming his lungs out._ I got up and left, just like Allie asked me to, giving them the space they needed to talk. I’ve been interrupted before, when I was having a moment with Allie. I was so close to kissing her that day on the tour bus. I was glad we were interrupted when we were. I could never do that to Jess. I care too much about her. I just have to keep telling myself that I wasn’t going to kiss Allie, that I only felt friendship towards her. But the way she looked at me, with big wide eyes, so innocent and vulnerable, made my heart pound till I was sure it was going to burst from my chest. This time I didn’t want to leave; I wanted to stay and finish what I was telling her. I wanted her to trust me again. I missed the way we used to be, the way she is with Louis now. That was a constant reminder of how I screwed up. I wanted to be the one she could always count on, to make her smile when no one else could. But I knew me leaving was for the best. They needed to work it out and they couldn’t do that if I was there. _I wish I knew whom it was that she was so hung up on._ I felt a pang of hatred towards the person who held her heart and was too blind to see how wonderful she was. _You’re jealous._ Wait, what!?! I’m not jealous. _You so are._ Shut up brain. I had Jess and I was happy, there was nothing to be jealous of. But I couldn’t stop thinking of Allie being held by someone else. Her smiling at him with that beautiful smile of hers, the one that seemed to light up the whole world. I wanted it to be me holding her tight, her beautiful brown eyes boring into mine, and that smile being mine and mine alone. _What the hell is wrong with me!?!_ I have to stop thinking about this. I pulled out my phone calling Liam. After a few rings he picked up,

            “Harry, did you find her?” He asked.

            “Yea Louis and I found her. She’s okay, not a scratch on her.” I told him.

            “Oh thank God.” He sighed in relief. I could hear him mumbling the news to the others. “We are going to get the car and then come pick you guys up.”

            “Okay” I said, hanging up the phone. _It’s been a while; maybe they’re finished._ I started walking back to where they were. I felt my heart unexpectedly clench, at the sight of them kissing. What did I expect to happen? They both clearly are in love with each other, the kiss just proved it. I quickly mumbled out an apology, causing them to jump apart, eyes wide and a slight blush on both their cheeks, embarrassed at being caught. I told them what I had come to say, before stalking back the way I had come. I was hurt by what I had seen, but I had no idea why? I remember when I found her looking so vulnerable and alone. I desperately wanted to take all of her pain away. And now she was going to be happy with someone. _Maybe it’s because you want her to be happy with you._ I thought I told you to shut up. I tugged on my curls, shaking my head, trying desperately to get rid of those thoughts. _I have Jess. We’re happy. I love her._ I chanted over and over again in my mind, reminding myself I was with her, not Allie. I didn’t have feelings for Allie; I have them for Jess. I’m with Jess and it’s a good thing. _Isn’t it?_


	19. Sister Bonding and Death

            There was nothing but silence between us, as Louis and I sat on the bench waiting for Harry to come back. There was nothing left to say to each other, everything had already been said. All that was left was an awkward silence that I hoped wouldn’t last forever. I couldn’t lose Louis.

            “Did you see Harry’s face?” Louis asked, finally breaking the silence.

            “What?” I asked, confused.

            “I asked did you see Harry’s face when he interrupted our kiss?”

            “No, I was kind of looking at the floor, embarrassed.”

            “Well I did.”

            “So?”

            “Allie,” He turned to me, looking me in the eyes. “He looked…”

            I cut him off, “Don’t.”

            “But Allie…”

            “I said don’t. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear the truth. That he was happy. That he doesn’t feel the same for me. And I especially don’t want to hear any attempt to try and make me feel better, to make me think there is something there when there is nothing there at all. It didn’t work out between you and I, and that’s okay. I don’t need you giving me false hope. I’m letting go and moving on with my life.”

            He sighed, “Fine, I wont say anything. Just forget I ever said anything about it.”

            I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

            He wrapped his arm around me, giving me half of a hug. That smile I had slightly vanished when I saw Harry coming towards us. He had his hands up, covering his eyes.

            “Are you two done yet?” Harry asked.

            “Yes” I laughed. “Now uncover your eyes before you trip like the klutz you are.”

            He put his hands down, sitting down next to me.

             “That’s a relief. I thought I’d go blind if I saw it again.” He joked, his voice a little strained, almost sounding forced. He stared intently at the position Louis and I were in, my head on Louis’ shoulder and his arm around me. “So you two?”

            “Is that Liam?” Louis asked, ignoring Harry’s question and cutting me off before I could answer. I looked in the same direction Louis was, and sure enough there he was in front of the entrance to the park next to a van.

            “It looks like it.” I told him, getting up. I grab Louis’ hand taking him with me as I walk towards Liam. Harry gets up following closely behind us. His head is hung down a little bit and his shoulders are slightly slumped. When we reached Liam he rushed forward, going in for a hug.

            “Allie, I’m so glad you’re safe.” He exclaimed.

            I took a step back right before he could hug me. His face immediately fell, and he dropped his arms. I felt guilty for what I did, but even with all this drama going on I still hadn’t quite forgiven him. A look of surprise went across Louis’ face at my actions. He turned towards me with a look that silently asked what that was about. I ignored Louis and looked back at Harry. Who was staring intently at the ground. _What’s up with him?_ Suddenly the van door opened and out ran a blur of blond, that knocked the breath out of me, causing me to let go of Louis’ hand.

            “Allie, you’re okay!” Niall shouted, squeezing me tight. “It’s so good to see you.”

            “It’s good to see you too, Niall.” I laughed. He squeezed tighter, effectively cutting off my air supply.

            “Calm down there, Niall. Allie’s brains will pop out if you squeeze any harder.” Louis chuckled.

            Niall immediately let go, looking quite sheepish as a light shade of pink hinted his cheeks, “Sorry Allie.”

            “It’s fine Ni. I would have done the same.”

            His face lit up, “You would?”

            “Of course.” I smiled, looking into his eyes. A huge grin broke across his face. “I….”

            “Ehmm, shouldn’t we be going?” Harry interrupted. I turned to see Harry slightly glaring at Niall. Harry saw me looking and his expression immediately changed.

            “You’re right, we better be going.” Liam said. He went and opened the van door, and Niall climbed in. I went in after Niall.

            “Allie it’s good to see that you’re okay.” Zayn said. I merely nodded, slightly ignoring him as I sat in the back with Niall. Zayn looked to Liam.

            “She’s not talking to us.” Liam mumbled to him. Louis climbed in next, sitting down in the back so that I was between him and Niall. Harry went to sit up front near the driver, plugging himself in to his Iphone. As soon as we were all situated we were off. After only a couple minutes of driving, I started yawning.

            “Tired?” Louis asked. I nodded. “Come here.”

            He slung his arm around my shoulder allowing me to lean and rest my head on him. The smile Niall had on his face dropped when he saw us.

            “Niall what’s wrong?” I ask.

            “Nothing” He mumbled.

            “Liar”

            “It’s nothing, I just remembered something.”

            “What is it that’s got you so down all of a sudden?”

            “It’s nothing. Just forget it.”

            We drove on, Niall not really talking to me or anyone else. I was starting to worry about him. _What had changed his mood so fast?_  

            “So Allie are you okay?” Niall asked, breaking his silence.

            “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

            “Just making sure.” He looked to his lap, in thought. “You’ve been through a lot and I’m glad you’re finally with someone who feels the same way that you do about them.”

            “Niall what are you going on about? I’m not with anyone.”

            “Wait you and Louis aren’t dating?”

            “No, what we feel towards each other is nothing close to romantic.”

            His smile returned a little bit. He directed his attention toward Louis, “I’m so sorry man. I know how much you cared for her.”

            “It’s okay because I still love her, just not in that way.” Louis said.

            I sighed in relief, “Yeah, thank god. This one is a terrible kisser.”

            “Excuse me! I am not. I’ll have you know that my kisses will take any girls breath away.”

            “You definitely took my breath away. You took it away because I was too shocked at how bad it was.”

            “Do you want me to prove it to you?” He said, leaning in.

            I scooted back; practically squishing Niall, my hands rose trying to stop him from getting any closer.

            “No please, I don’t want to relieve the horror.” I cried. All of the other boys except for Harry snickered.

            “That’s it.” Louis shouted, reaching for me. Niall grabbed onto Louis, helping me to block his efforts. When he realized that he was getting nowhere, he started tickling me.

            “No Louis. Please stop!”

            “What’s with all the shouting?” Harry asked, one ear bud falling out of his ear. “What’s going on?”

            Niall spoke, “Louis was try-“

            Louis slapped a hand over Niall’s mouth, effectively stopping him from finishing speaking.

            “It’s nothing. I was just trying to tickle her.” Louis said.

            “It didn’t sound like nothing.”

            “So sorry for disturbing you princess. Go back to your own little world, we won’t bother you any more.”

            Harry rolled his eyes, and put his earphones back in.

            “What’s up with him?” Niall asked.

            “I’ll tell you later.” Louis told him.

            “Why can’t you tell him now?” I ask.

            “Because I’m going to tell him later.”

            I narrowed my eyes at him, “I will get it out of you eventually so why don’t you tell us all now.”

            “I don’t doubt that you will. But until you do, I’m not telling you.”

            I looked out the window, hoping that we were at least close to the venue. So I could hit Louis and be able to run away before he caught me. That’s when it hit me.

            “Hey Louis, what happened to the car we drove down in?” I ask.

            “Paul sent someone down to go get it. It should be back at the venue by now. Why do you ask?”

            “I left my phone in there.”

            “Oh”

            Finally we pulled into the venue and climbed out of the van. We all headed to the tour bus with Harry trailing slightly behind. Louis and I were just about to enter when I stepped back, “I’ll be in, in just a second.”

            Louis nodded, entering the bus, closing the door behind him. I turned around and headed towards Harry.

            “Hey Harry are you okay?” I ask.

            “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m a little queasy, but I think it was something I ate this morning.”

            “Oh.”

            We walked a little bit closer to the bus before he stopped.

            “So you and Louis?” Harry asked his voice a little strained.

            “What?”

            “You’re dating now aren’t you?”

            “Oh, no. We decided to stay friends.”

            “Really?” He said his face lighting up a little bit. I raised an eyebrow at him giving him a questioning look. He quickly put on a straight face, “Uhh…I mean that’s too bad.”

            I shrugged, “Not really we just didn’t feel anything towards each other then if we were family. The kiss proved it.”

            “Oh yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to walk in on you guys like that.”

            “Its fine if you hadn’t come, we would have pulled apart around then anyway.”

            “So, no romantic feelings towards Louis at all?”

            “Yup”

            “Don’t worry you’ll find the right guy eventually.”

            I sighed looking into his eyes, “I might have already.”

            “Really who?”

            “It’s no one. Just forget I said anything.”

            “Is it the asshole who doesn’t know you exist?” I remained silent, looking away from him. “It is, isn’t it? A guy who can’t see how great you are isn’t worth your time.”

            I laughed to myself. _If only you knew._ “You’re right he isn’t.”

            He started to walk to the door, but right before he opened it, he stopped, turning to look at me “Oh Allie I almost forgot, brace yourself.”

            “Brace myself for what?”

            “Jess”

            “What? Why would I have to brace myself for her?”

            “You’ll see.” He said, before going into the tour bus. Before I could think too long about it, I entered right after him.

            “Allie!” Jess screamed, running over to me. She grabbed me, crushing me with a hug. “I was so worried.”

            I tensed, afraid that she knew where we had been all morning but that feeling went away the moment she asked, “Where have you all been?”

            The boys stayed silent, leaving me to answer her.

            “Louis and I went out for breakfast. And then the boys came and we went to the park.” I half lied. I looked around to see that the boys had made themselves scarce. _That’s great just great. They left me alone with her._

            She raised an eyebrow, “So you and Louis?”

            “What about it?” I ask.

            “What’d you do?”

            “We went for breakfast.”

            “You two were alone?”

            “Yes, I already told you this.”

            “So did he talk to you?”

            “No we sat in silence, communicating with our minds. Of course we talked.” I said sarcastically, and annoyed that she wouldn’t get to the point already

            “Did he tell you anything?” I gulped. _How could she possibly know?_ “Louis told you didn’t he?”

            “What?”

“He told you that he’s in love with you.” A grin broke across her face that could rival the Cheshire Cat’s and started jumping up and down screeching excitedly, “I just knew you two would be perfect for each other. I shipped Loulie right from the start.”

“Wait what?”

“It’s your guy’s ship name. Louis and Allie, Loulie duh.” She said, rolling her eyes.

“Jess listen…”

“OMG! He did it! This is so great! We can go on double dates!”

            “Whoa calm down there. Louis and I aren’t dating.” I told her.

She stopped smiling, her voice low and confused, “But he told you his true feelings.”

“Yes, but we both realized what we felt towards each other wasn’t romantic at all.”

She shook her head, not wanting to believe it, “He just said that to make you feel better about not loving him back.” She put her hand on my shoulder, “It’s okay that you don’t know yet, give it time and you’ll see Louis is the one for you.”

I stepped back away from her, causing her arm to drop. I spoke, a little annoyed that she wasn’t listening to me, “No you don’t get it. We kissed…”

            “You kissed!!?!?”, she shrieked. She started to dance and sing, “Louis and Allie sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love then comes marriage then comes baby in a baby carriage.”

            “Will you shut up and listen to what I’m trying to tell you.” I yelled, causing her to finally stop dancing and singing that ridiculous song. “Thank you. Now, yes we kissed.” She squealed. I glared at her, causing her to immediately stop mid squeal. “But Louis didn’t tell me anything so it wouldn’t hurt my feelings we said the truth at the same time. There was no twisting the truth so the other wouldn’t get hurt. All we feel towards each other is what a brother and sister would feel towards each other.”

            Her smile dropped, and her shoulders slumped as she whined, “But you two were perfect for each other.”

            “I’m sorry but the heart wants what it wants.”

            She stared off into space, her expression drastically changing from the happy demeanor it once was. He voice bitter as she spoke, “It does, doesn’t? Without a single thought about the consequences.”

************************************************************************************

            Two weeks had passed since Louis told me his true feelings and in that time things have been, thankfully, getting back to normal. It wasn’t exactly perfect between us, I mean in the beginning we couldn’t really be in a room alone together without there being an awkward silence between us but that number had drastically changed since then and we can actually be alone with there only being one or two awkward silences. We’ve moved on two the next two cities and the boys have been doing wonderfully. They love being up there in the spotlights of the stage and are still amazing as ever. I made up with Liam and Zayn, now understanding why they did what they did, but I still threatened them if they ever tried doing it again. The only thing that sucks is the homesickness. I kind of miss my mom and dad, but Zayn probably has it the worst out of all of us. He has been moping around a lot missing Perrie. The only bright side is that it seems that she will be visiting in a few weeks so he’s not moping around as much. Jess has been distant, extremely distant with me. I don’t mind that much but she seems to be glaring at me a lot which I find concerning. It seems like she’s blaming me for things not working out with Louis. But then she goes and does a 180 and is all lovey and happy to see me. I can’t handle her mood changes; I have no idea what is going on with her. I really don’t want to deal with her any more, so I’ve been avoiding her like the plague. Which really sucks for me because the boys will be rehearsing all day long which just leaves Jess and I alone. _God, help me._

            I woke up early today so that I could be ready before the boys leave. Just because they are rehearsing today doesn’t mean I wont try everything in my power to go with them and avoid being alone with Jess. I was dressed and eating by the time the boys started to get up.

            “You’re up early.” Liam said, apparently the first one to be ready to go.

            “This is when I normally get up.”

            Harry scoffed, “Yeah right. It usually takes a whole army to get you out of bed before noon. So tell us, why are you up this early?”

            I stuck my tongue out at him. Niall came and sat next to me, trying to steal some of my food.

            “I don’t need to answer you, I can get up early if I want to.” I told him.

            “I know why.” Niall says while munching on some of my toast.

            I looked at him, glaring.

            “Don’t you dare,” I threaten.

            “She doesn’t want to spend the whole day alone with Jess.”

            “I’m never telling you anything ever again.”

            “Oh come on she’s not that bad.” Harry said, grabbing the rest of my toast.

            “You have to say that, she’s your girlfriend.”

            “She’s your sister.”

            “Exactly, which means I know better than anyone how she can be.” I stood up and put my plate in the sink. “Are you guys ready? Cause I would like to leave before she gets up.”

            “Yeah I think so.” Louis said, before heading to the door. I grabbed my phone before following the rest of the boys out. We all started walking towards the venue and were only a few feet away from the door when I heard it.

            “Allie, there you are.” Jess exclaimed. I started walking faster towards the door, praying I would get to it before her. I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder stopping right before I could open the door. “Allie, where are you going?”

            I turned to face her, sighing, “I’m going to watch the boys rehearse.”

            “But I had our whole day planned. We were going to go shopping.”

            I made a show of checking my pockets before saying, “Oh darn I didn’t bring my wallet or purse. I guess I’m just going to have to stay here.”

            “Oh don’t be silly I already put your purse in the car.”

            “Oh goody.” I muttered, sarcastically. She ignored me, starting to drag me to the car. I looked at the boys pleading with my eyes for them to help me.

            “Have a fun time you too.” Louis called out. I looked at them incredulously as they walked into the building. _Those little fuckers are actually going to leave me alone with her._ She let go of my hand as soon as we reached the car, climbing into the driver seat. I walked around the car, climbing into the passenger seat, defeated.

            She started the car, pulling out of the parking lot. A huge grin was on her face as she spoke, “We are going to have such a fun day. First we’ll go shopping than we’ll get some lunch…” I put my headphones in, drowning her out. _This is going to be a long day._ She rambled the whole twenty-minute drive to the mall with me nodding here and there to show I wasn’t completely ignoring her.

            “We’re here,” She says as she pulls into the parking lot. She turned off the car, turning to me. “Could you maybe leave the headphones in the car. I would like to actually talk to my sister today. We never get to anymore with all the guys around. I just want one day where we could be like we once were.”

            She got out of the car, while I sat there taking in her words. I felt bad that I had tried so hard not to spend time with her. _She hasn’t done anything wrong. What if the roles were reversed? I would be just as upset. Maybe I should try harder to get along with her._ I did as she asked and left my headphones on my seat before grabbing my purse and exiting the car. I ran up to her, linking our arms.

            “Where to first sis?” I ask, smiling.

            She smiled, lighting up her whole face with happiness. “I was thinking Forever 21, or we could go and get some Starbucks?”

            “Coffee sounds wonderful right now. Waking up early, not fun.”

            She laughed, “Why did you wake up early anyway?”

            Not wanting to ruin the day, I tell her, “No reason really. One of the boys woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep.”

            “That sucks. They are awful when they’re trying to be quiet.”

            “I know, right!” I laughed.

            We exited the parking lot, crossing the street to the near by Starbucks. We entered, getting in line. Jess let go of my arm, turning to face me, “Today, we are going to have a technology free day. No going on our phones, unless its an emergency. That way we can be solely focused on each other.” She says.

            “That’s sounds nice. It will be just like it used to, just you and me.” I say.

            We got to the front and ordered our drinks. I tried to pay for my own but Jess already had her card out before I could even reach for mine.

            “Don’t worry about it. It’s my treat.” She says.

            We go off to the side to wait for our drinks.

            “So tell me anyone new in your life?” She asks.

            “What?”

            “Are there any cute guys in your life that I should know about?”

            “Nope.”

            “So you and Louis?”

            “Still feel the same.”

            She looked a little defeated, “Oh.”

            The barista called out our drinks and I went to go get them. I handed Jess her drink and we sat down at one of the nearby tables.

            “How about Niall?” She asks.

            “What about Niall?”

            “Come on there has to be something going on between you two.”

            “No there doesn’t have to be something going on between us. We’re just good friends.”

            “Like Louis?”

            “Why do you keep bringing that up?”

            She took my hand, “I just want you to be happy, to have a special someone in your life. I want you to have what Harry and I have.”

            I looked down at my drink at the mention of Harry. “How’s that going by the way?”

            “Good. But don’t think for a second that I didn’t see what you did there.” I tensed. _Does she know?_ “You’re not getting off the hook so easily. Don’t you want a boyfriend?”

            I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I looked up at her, “Of course. I do.”

            “Then what’s stopping you? And don’t tell me it’s because there is no one. I happen to know that there is one guy who is absolutely crazy about you.”

            “Who?”

            “I’m not telling you until you answer the question.”

            “It’s just, that I was so caught up in this other guy and I just don’t think I’m ready.”

            She tensed, “Are you still in love with him?”

            “I wish I could say I wasn’t but I would be lying.” I said, looking down t my drink. When I looked up again, her entire demeanor changed, and she had this bitter look on her face. I looked up at her, asking, “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine. It’s just the coffee was a little bitter.” She said. Any trace of her once happy demeanor was long gone from her face and voice. We sat there finishing our coffees. I watched her, something had changed and I had no idea what. _What could possibly change her mood so drastically?_ I stood up throwing away my empty cup.

            “Are you all done?” I ask. She doesn’t answer, just gets up and throws her cup in the trash. She pulls out her phone and starts texting someone while she walks out the door completely ignoring me. _So much for a technology free day._ We start walking to the entrance of the mall, Jess farther ahead of me. I check my purse for my phone, and find that my wallet is missing.

            “Hey Jess, hold up.” I yell to her.

            She stops, turning back to look at me, “What is it?”

            “I think I left my wallet in the car.”

            “So what do you want me to do about it?” She huffed, clearly annoyed.

            “Wait for me while I go get it.”

            “Fine.”

            I started walking towards the crosswalk to get back to the car. I was halfway through the street when Jess calls out, “Hey how are you going to get in. It’s locked remember?”

            _Idiot._ I stop turning to face see she’s standing near the start of the crosswalk.

            “Could you throw them to me?” I call out to her.

            “Here,” She says, flinging the keys at me. Her toss is a little short and the keys land at my feet. I bend down to pick them up. I have them in my hand when Jess screams, “Allie!”

            I look up to see a car coming right for me. I freeze, my eyes wide in shock, like a deer in headlights. I’m unable to move from my spot as the car comes closer. _This is it this is the end. Harry, I love you._ The car is about to hit me when I feel someone knock me to the ground, out of the way of the car. I lay on the ground in shock, trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of me. My heart started to pound. _I almost died._

            “Asshole!” Jess yelled at the car. _._ The car just kept going not even caring that they almost ran over someone. She came running over. “Allie are you okay?”

            As I nodded, the person who saved me helped me to my feet. I turned towards them, finally getting a good look at who saved me. She had long brown hair and big round brown eyes. She looked to be in her twenties and my height. She had on a pair of jean that was rolled at her ankles, a plain dark green tank with black converse.

            “Thank you. You just saved my life. Thank you so much….”

            She smiles, finishing my sentence, “Eleanor. Eleanor Calder.”


	20. Making New Friends

            “Well thank you again Eleanor. I’m Allie and this is my sister Jess.” I told her.

            “Nice meeting you guys but I think we should move this out of the street so we don’t get run over. I don’t think I can save you again if I’m getting hit by a car.” Eleanor pointed out. We moved back across the street to the sidewalk.

            “So we better be going, right Allie?” Jess said. “Bye Eleanor.”

            “No we aren’t, I need to properly thank her.” I told her. Turning towards Eleanor, “Never mind my sister. I want to thank you for saving my life. We are going to do some shopping and then go to lunch, would you like to come along? This way I can treat you to lunch.”

            “Oh it’s okay you don’t have to.”

            “See Allie, she said you don’t have to. Now let’s go.” Jess says.

            “Jess don’t be rude.” I scolded. Jess huffed walking away.

            “Seriously it’s okay and plus I don’t think your sister likes me very much.” Eleanor points out.

            “Don’t mind her. She’s in some kind of mood.”

            “Are you sure you want me to come?”

            “Yes. You saved my life, it’s the least I can do. Plus you seem like a very nice person”

            “Okay then, I guess I’ll join you guys.”

            I grinned, “Great! Now let’s go get my sister.” We walked over to where Jess was sulking. “Good news! Eleanor is going to come hang out with us for awhile.”

            “Oh goody.” Jess spoke, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

            I shot her a glare and pulled her roughly to the side, “She just saved my life, now you don’t have to like her, but you need to at least be civil.” She nodded, scared by my harsh tone and sudden roughness with her. “Good”

            I let her go and wandered back, closer to Eleanor.

            “You good?” Eleanor asks

            “Never better.” I reply, a smile returning to my face. “Lets go have some fun.”

            We started walking, finally entering the mall. We passed by a few shops in silence before, finally finding one we all wanted to go into. We looked around for a bit, I trying to strike up a conversation with Eleanor, and Jess just being her silent pouty self. We left the shop with Eleanor and myself having purchased nothing, and Jess having two giant shopping bags on her arms. We continued like this for a few more shops, until at the fifth shop we went into, Jess finally broke her silence.

            “So Eleanor excuse me for saying but you don’t really sound American.” Jess pointed out.

            “Well it’s cause I’m from the U.K.” Eleanor replies.

            “Really? So are we, what are you doing here?” I ask.

            “I’m traveling.”

            “Alone?”

            “Well I was traveling with a friend, but she-”

            “Decided you were too boring and left you.” Jess says, interrupting Eleanor.

            “Jess!” I snapped.

            “Actually my friend left because she had a family emergency.” Eleanor says.

            Jess slips back into her silent mode, and starts walking ahead of Eleanor and I. We start talking; I told her how we were traveling with friends and soon I start talking about almost everything. For some reason I just couldn’t keep my mouth from spewing out every word I knew. _It must be my nerves. I’m still shaken up from earlier._

            “Oh my God, I’m talking way too much, you must be so annoyed right now.” I rambled.

            “Oh no, not at all. I actually find it kind of refreshing to talk to someone. I really haven’t had many conversations with people since I’ve been here.”

            “Yeah, that must really suck. I could never do that because I’d probably stay in my bubble and not have a great time.”

            “It does sometimes. But at least it gave me the chance to meet you. If I hadn’t come along, I fear you wouldn’t have gotten off without any injuries.”

            “I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

            “I’m hungry” Jess whined. “Let’s get something to eat.”

            “Are you hungry?” I ask Eleanor.

            “Yeah, I could go for a bite to eat.”

            We headed over to the food court. Turning towards Eleanor I ask, “Where would you like to eat?”

            “Chinese.” Jess replies.

            “I wasn’t asking you.”

            “It’s ok, I don’t really care.” Eleanor says.

            “Ok then, Chinese it is.”

            We walk over to what looked like a Chinese vendor, getting in line. After a while of waiting we finally get our food and sit down at a round table with three chairs. We all start digging into our meals, Eleanor and I chatting excitedly about _The Fault in Our Stars._

            “After I finished it I cried so hard I got a headache.” Eleanor said.

            “Me too. What was you’re favorite part? Mine was when they were egging the car. It was so funny. And I absolutely loved the parts in Amsterdam.”

            “Would you two stop going on about some stupid book.” Jess groaned.

            Eleanor gasped, “How dare you? It was in no way stupid. And what do you know anyway, I doubt you read it let alone know how to read.”

            My eyes widened in shock at Eleanor. She had been so nice to Jess even when Jess was being rude. Jess was stunned too, stunned into silence. I looked to see Eleanor realizing her mistake, but instead of saying an apology she tried to include Jess in the conversation.

            “So Jess, I feel like I know so much about Allie but so little about you.” Eleanor asks, visibly struggling with her next words, “You’re so pretty you surely must have a boyfriend, right?”

            A smile formed on Jess’ lips, “Yeah I do.”

            “How long have you been together?”

            “Almost six months.” _Six months! Have they really been together that long?_

            “That’s great.”

            “I know he’s so handsome and sweet and-”

            Eleanor looks towards me cutting Jess off, “So, any guys in your life?”

            “Of course it’s always about Allie.” Jess mumbled.

            I gave Jess a confused and slightly pissed off look. _Excuse me? It’s always about you. Self conceited prat._ I really wanted to give her a piece of my mind, but not wanting to get in a fight with her, I thought better of it. I turned back to Eleanor.

            Shaking my head, “Not really, there was someone but he doesn’t feel the same towards me.”

“That sucks.”

            Jess spoke up, “It’s kind of pathetic actually, she had this whole other guy that confessed his feelings towards her and she turned him down cause she was too hung up on a guy who is taken and has absolutely no interest in her.”

            “That’s not what happened and you know it! And where in the hell are you getting this idea that the guy I had feelings towards is taken?”

“Oh please that is exactly what happened. And I’m just assuming that the guy you say you had feelings for, which if you think for one second that I’m buying the fact that you are over them well then you are sadly mistaken, is taken. Isn’t that what most pathetic lovesick whores pine over?”

            My breath caught in my throat as I felt some unruly tears burn my eyes. _My own sister just called me a whore. Take a deep breath Allie. Don’t let her see you cry. Don’t let her see how much she got to you_.

            “Hey, she’s your sister!”

            “Well she sure doesn’t act like it,” She huffed before taking her tray and storming off towards the trashcan.

            “Allie, it’s going to be okay. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.” _She’s right, cause I was, who am I kidding… I’m still pinning over her boyfriend._ “How about we try to get your mind off it? So who was this guy you kissed?”

 _Yeah like that’s going to help me take my mind off it_. “And how is this supposed to help exactly.”

            “You’re right. It won’t take your mind off it, but I believe sometimes you need to let it all out if you are ever going to get any better. Holding on to things will only make your life worse.”

            “He’s one of my best friends.”

            “That sucks.”

“No shit.”

“Tell me what happened.”

            “We kissed and there wasn’t a spark. The feeling was mutual. You know, I really wish there had been something, everything would be so much easier.”

“Well love isn’t supposed to be easy.”

“Yeah but I didn’t think whoever’s up there would make it so damn hard for me.”

            “You know, I know exactly what that’s like.”

“You do?”

Eleanor nodded her head, “One of my friends was in love with me too and I didn’t even know it.”

“What happened?”

            “Well, one day he kissed me right out of the blue. I told him, I was sorry, but I didn’t feel the same. After that we started spending less and less time together, until eventually we lost touch.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Don’t be. It was his fault. He couldn’t accept the fact that I didn’t feel the same towards him as he did me. If he was really my friend, then he would have respected that and wouldn’t let it get in the way of our friendship.”

            “Are you two done moaning about how pathetic you both are with boys? I‘d really like to get back to shopping.” Jess sneered.

            Eleanor seethed, sarcasm dripping from her voice, “Oh so sorry your royal highness. Let me just drop whatever I’m doing to cater to your every need. Oh are we talking too much? We're so sorry to damage your delicate ears. Let me just gag ourselves so your hearing can stay perfectly intact. No need to worry about our problems just keep on only thinking about yourself, you egotistical hellion. Oh look at me being stupid once again; you don’t understand a word I’m saying. You’re tiny little brain can’t handle it. Let me put this in smaller words so you’ll understand you twat. Calm the fuck down you self-centered bitch. If your head wasn’t so far up your ass, you would see that your sister is clearly going through something and that instead of trying to enforce your opinions on her you should be actually listening to her. The world does not revolve around you. Deal with it.”

            Jess stood there with her mouth wide open, and her eyes widening so much that I thought they were going to pop out of her skull. Her shock was short lived however when her face started to turn red with anger and her hands started clenching. This was going to get bad and fast.

            “You know I could really go for some shoes right about now. Doesn’t that sound good you guys?” I ask, trying desperately to stop the storm that is coming. I turn towards Jess, pleading with my eyes to not make a scene. Jess had this look in her eyes as if she liked the prospect of looking for shoes so she could stab Eleanor with a stiletto. _Ok maybe shoe shopping wasn’t the best idea. Time to try a new tactic._ I moved closer to Jess whispering in her ear, “You don’t want to make a scene. Someone would record it and before you know it Harry will find out. Do you want the fans to hate you?”

            “They wouldn’t hate me for taking this bitch down.” She hissed. “And why are you taking her side over mine?”

            “I’m not.” _Well not really._ “I don’t want to make a scene.”

            “Well I do.”

            She started advancing towards Eleanor, but my hand shot out gripping her arm tightly. “You will not make a scene. Do you hear me? Because if you do, no matter what you think, they will hate you. And then another certain little video of you will be posted. And that one for sure won’t be seen in any kind of good light.”

            “What video?”

            “Think about it.” Her eye’s widened as she finally realized what I was talking about. “Good, now be nice or else.”

            I let go of her arm, as Jess spoke louder so Eleanor could hear, sounding forced, “That’s a great idea Allie. Let’s go.”

            Eleanor and I went with our trays to the trash. Eleanor spoke, “Allie I’m so sorry for going off on your sister like that, but if I had the chance I’d do it again. I know I haven’t spent that much time with you, but I feel like you are genuinely a nice person, and I just don’t see how you’re sister could treat you that way.”

            “It’s okay. But if Jess asks, then it isn’t. Can we talk about this later? I calmed her down, but based on how’s she’s acting I really don’t know how long that will last.”

            “Of course.”

            We headed back over to where Jess was standing and walked out of the food court. I was stuck in the middle of Jess and Eleanor as we walk in a tense silence that made the air thick and uncomfortable. The silence forced me to think about what Eleanor had said. _If Eleanor hadn’t snapped at Jess then I’d probably have snapped at her myself. Who am I kidding I probably would have ran off to the bathroom breaking down._ Jess was being so hurtful today, and I had no idea why. _I don’t understand what I had done for her to act this way._ The only thing I’ve done that would hurt her is being in love with her boyfriend. _But she doesn’t know that and if she did, does she really think that little of me? That I would do something to hurt her. I’m not cruel. I’m not her._ I just have to get my mind off of her or I might start crying. I looked to Eleanor. I didn’t know her very well, but she seemed nice, like someone you could trust. She didn’t seem to have a short temper, it seemed more like she defend her friends no matter what and she would do it with style. Eleanor reminded me of someone I knew. She seemed very fun to be around and I liked that. It would be nice to have a friend who was a girl for a change. I can’t talk to Jess because it’s Jess and I really need a girl’s opinion every now and then. _Maybe after I got to know her a little more and before we leave, I could try and invite her to come with us._

            We walked into the first store that sold shoes that we could find. Eleanor and I went off in one direction, and Jess in the other. We had only been in there for fifteen minutes when Jess came walking over.

            “I’m going to go to the bathroom.” She said.

            I looked to see that she had all her bags and a new one that looked to be one from the store we were in. I was going to ask her about why she was taking all her bags with her to the bathroom, but all I said was, “Ok”

            Jess turned on her heels, walking out with all her bags. Once Jess was out of earshot, Eleanor mumbled, “Good riddance.”

            I ignored her comment and continued looking and trying on shoes. By the time Eleanor and I had found and paid for some shoes, Jess still hadn’t come back. I went up to the nearest employee asking, “Excuse me, where is the nearest bathroom?”

            “So when you go out of the store go to the left and then it will be to you’re right.” She replied.

            “Thank you.” I started walking with Eleanor, following her directions. Soon we came to where the bathrooms were and stood waiting for Jess. We started talking about our favorite movies and soon enough another ten minutes had gone by.

            “What is taking her so long?” I groaned

            “Maybe she fell in.” Eleanor replied.

            “Well if she did, I’m not going in after her.”

“I’m not either. She’s your sister.”

“You’re right.” I sighed, “but I’d let her stew for awhile.”

            “Is there something going on between you two?”

            “Besides her being a bitch? No, not that I know of, she keeps having these mood swings and I just can’t keep up with them anymore.”

            “Maybe it’s her time of the month?”

“Oh no Jess on her period is the nicest person you will have ever met. It’s like the hormones make her brain do a complete 180 and be a decent person for once.”

“Well then maybe she’s pregnant.”

            I froze in fear. _Could she be?_ A sick feeling formed in my gut. _They’re both almost in their twenties. They were bound to do it sooner or later._ Jess has never been shy about her love life, but that didn’t make me feel any better about it. I just have to stop thinking about it.

            “Allie, calm down. I was only joking. Take a deep breath.”

            I started to do what she said, and I found myself calming down. “Thanks”

            “It’s no problem. I’m so sorry. I had no idea it would freak you out so much.”

            “It’s okay.”

            “Why did you freak out so much? Are you guys really religious or something?”

            “No”

            “Then if you don’t mind me asking, what is it?”

            “Can I tell you later? I like you a lot and I think we could be really good friends, but I’m just not ready to talk about this.”

            “Of course. I just met you, I don’t expect you to spill all you’re secrets. Well not yet anyway.”

            I laughed, “Thank you.”

            My phone buzzed. I reached into my pocket pulling it out.

            **From Jess:**

**I wasn’t feeling good and left. See u back at the tour bus.**

            I groaned.

            “What is it?” Eleanor asks.

            “My sister went back with out me and she was my ride.”

            “Is there someone you could call? Someone else who can pick you up?”

            “Yeah, but I don’t know if he will be free. Hold on a sec, while I call him.” I take out my phone, quickly dialing Louis.

*********************************************************************************

**Meanwhile…..**

**Louis’ POV**            

            “Okay guys let’s try this one more time and then you can take a break.” The stage manager said.

            Liam starts, “One, two…”

            “Hi boys!” Jess screeched.

            I groaned to Niall, “What the fuck is she doing here?”

            I had forgotten that I was holding my mic a little too close to my mouth thus blasting my voice through the speakers.

            “Hello to you too Lewis.”

            “Hey babe,” Harry said, jumping down from the stage to greet her. “Where’s Allie?”

            Jess’ smile fell off her face, twisting into a look of complete and utter disdain at the mention of her sister. “She’s in the bus. Wasn’t feeling good.”

            “Oh, what’s wrong with her?” He turns towards me, “Maybe we should check on her.”

            “I think what you should be worrying about is what’s wrong with you! I come back and I barely get a hello before it’s all about Allie. It’s like you like her better then me. Don’t try to deny it, you do don’t you?”

            I spoke, “Yes.” She turned her glare towards me. “Oops did I say that out loud? Awkward.”

            Before she could yell at me, the stage manger spoke, “Boys you need to get back to work.”

            “Sorry love, we’ll talk later.” Harry said, before clambering back on stage.

            “Ok lets try this one more time.” Liam said. “One…”

            “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard…” started playing loudly.

            “Whose phone is that?” The stage manger asks, clearly getting annoyed.

            I sheepishly raise my hand, “Sorry guys it’s mine. I’ll go turn it off.”

            “No don’t move.” He turned towards Jess, “You deal with it.”

            “Excuse me?” Jess said.

            “Please Jess.” Harry begged. “If you go do this we can finish quicker and then I can spend time with you.”

            “Fine.” She grumbled, stalking over to where my phone was. She picked it up, eyes bearing into the screen as if she was trying to set it on fire, and pressed a button, effectively cutting off the ringtone.

            “Who was it?” I ask.

            “No one important.” She replied.

            “Ok now that that’s taken care of lets do this.” Liam said.

************************************************************************************

**Allie’s POV**

It rang for a while before it was cut off mid ring, going straight to voice mail. I swore, “Damnit”

            “He’s not answering?” Eleanor asks.

            “Yup”

            “Is there someone else?”

            “Unfortunately if my friend isn’t answering neither will the other person I can call.”

            “Don’t worry. I can take you.”

            “You can? Thank you!” I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her. “You’re the best.”

            She laughed, “You’re welcome. Do you want to continue shopping or do you want me to take you to where you’re staying?”

            “If you don’t mind, I’m kind of done with shopping. Could we go?”

            “Sure, I’m so done right now too.”

            We started walking back the way we had come. Luckily it was only a short walk from the mall to her car and we were already to it in a little under five minutes. Eleanor’s car was a bright red Toyota Camry that looked like it was brand new. _Looks really expensive for a rental._ I put my bag in her trunk before getting into the passengers side. Eleanor got into the driver’s seat, buckling up before starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. We started driving in what I hope was the right direction.

            “This is a very nice car you have. However were you able to rent it? I thought there was age limit of 25 over here.” I widened my eyes in realization. “Oh my gosh how stupid of me, I never asked how old you are.”

            “It’s okay. I’m 20 years old and this car isn’t a rental. This is my friend’s car, the one who had to go back. Her parents own a house around here apparently and she felt really bad about leaving me here all alone, so she let me stay there and use her car.” She explains.

            “That’s nice of her.”  
                        We continued driving, me giving her the best directions I could. We are talking about our families when _What Makes You Beautiful_ comes on the radio.

            Eleanor turns up the volume saying, “I hope you don’t mind but I love this song.”

            “I don’t mind at all. I like this song a lot too.” I lie. I have no problems with the song, I’m just kind of sick of it. I’m mean I hang out with most of the members of One Direction all the time and there’s only so many times you can hear a song, even if it is your favorite, before you want to never want to hear it again. It’s like all things; it’s fine in moderation.

            “So do you only like this song or do you like the band as well?” I inquire.

            “I absolutely love them.” She replies, smiling.

            “Me too.”

            “That’s great. Whose you’re favorite?”

            “I don’t have a favorite.” I lie, again.

            “Really? Come on there must be one of them that you like more than the others?”

            “Oh turn right here. We’re almost there.”

            “Don’t think you fool me for one second missy. I see what you doing, but I’ll let it slide this one time. Only because I don’t want you asking who mine is.”

            “Ok, I won’t.” I laugh. We were getting closer and closer to the venue by the second. _Great, just great._ I’m going to have to tell her whom I’m traveling with. I just hope she doesn’t freak out and go psycho. Louis would never let me live it down if I let a crazed fan know where they are. _Please don’t be crazy. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’ve got time._ I look out the window to see that we were here. _Where the hell did all my time go?_

            “It is just straight ahead.” I tell her. Eleanor drives into the venue’s parking entrance, going to one of the very back lots near the venue. She looks clearly worried while looking around the practically empty parking lot.

            She shakily asks, “Allie, why are we here? Are you going to murder me!?!”

            “No.” I reply.

            “That’s exactly what a murderer would say!”

            “Eleanor calm down, I’m not going to murder you. Take a deep breath.”

            “Yeah that’s exactly what you’d like wouldn’t you. I take a deep breath of the chemicals you put in the air to drug me!”

            “I’m not a murderer! And if I were, I wouldn’t put chemicals in the same air I’m breathing. Will you calm down already?”

            “Fine. If we’re not here to murder me then why are we here?”

            “Do you remember that I said that Jess and I were traveling with friends?”

            “Yeah, why?”

            “Well those friends happen to be One Direction.”

            Eleanor slams on the breaks, causing me to hold on for dear life as we quickly come to a stop. She looks at me eyes wide in shock.

            “You know…” She stammers.

            “Yes I know One Direction.” I finish for her. She slaps me on the arm hard. “Ow! What was that for?”

            “That was for not telling me that you knew a famous boy band.”

            “I didn’t know how you would react.”

            “Ok fair point. Just give me a second to let it all out.” She starts flaying her arms about, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she screams. “Oh my god you know One Direction! I saved someone who personally knows 1D!! I can meet them right!??!!!?” I nod. She squeals, “ Thank you! Thank you! This is the best day ever!!!!”

            She stops screaming and starts to take deep breaths in order to calm down. After a couple of minutes, she seems relatively calm except for the fact that her hands are slightly shaking.

            “You all good?” I ask, smiling trying to hold in my laughter at her outburst.

            After taking one last deep breath, she replies, “Yes.”

            “Good.”

            “No wait, wait, let me get this straight. You and you’re sister are traveling with 1D correct?” I nod. “Ok and Jess’ boyfriend is okay with her spending months alone with a famous and extremely attractive boy band?” Eleanor asks. “Well based on her attitude I’m really not surprised at all. If I was her boyfriend I would ship her off the first chance I’d get.”

            “Actually Jess is dating one of them.”

            “Oh really who?”

            “Harry”

            “Aw man.”

            My expression sobered a bit at her reply. I tentatively ask, trying to not seem like the thought that the first friend that I’ve had whose a girl in a very long time, has a crush on my crush, makes my heart contract painfully. “What you got a crush on him?”

            She laughed, “No” I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “He’s cute just not really my type. I like my guys to have blue eyes. But that’s not important. It’s just that I feel bad that someone as nice as him is stuck with someone as horrible as her. How did she get her claws on him?”

            “He’s actually one of my best friends.”

            “Oh, that sucks even more.”

            My eyes widened in horror. Quickly trying to compose myself, I tried to not let the panic seep into my voice as I spoke, “Why exactly does that suck?”

            “You know.”

            “Ah, no I don’t.”

            “Well I’m sorry to say this, actually I’m not. But Jess and Harry won’t last.”

            “Oh that, I already figured that.” mumbling, “Kind of wishing for it actually.”

            “Yeah but when they break up then it’s going to be awkward.”

            “I’m sorry but I don’t see how.”

            “Jess won’t want you hanging out with Harry cause he’s her ex. And even though she’s an awful person, sisters stick together, and I can already tell that you are the kind of person who would stick with her no matter what because you love your sister.”

            “That’s debatable.”

            “You joke, but you know it’s true. And Harry won’t want to hang out with you because he will be constantly reminded of Jess and if someone finds out that the other moved on before the other it wouldn’t be pretty. You’re going to be stuck in the middle.”

            “Oh my god, I never thought of that.” _Shit. Why didn’t I realize this?_ I was so caught up in the fact that my sister was dating the guy I was in love with that I didn’t remember that she was also dating my best friend. Eleanor’s right, I’m going to be stuck in the middle of those two. I knew I would never have a shot with him even when he broke up with my sister but here I go again losing him. _I can never have him._ Not as a boyfriend and not as a friend. I’m going to lose him all over again. We were in a better place, but it didn’t matter anymore because in the end he would be lost to me. Just when I thought my mangled heart was finally recovering, something comes along and stabs it to death all over again. I felt tears start to prickle my eyes. _Don’t cry. Don’t let her see you cry. You’ve got to be strong._

            “Allie, I’m so sorry. Sometimes my mouth goes off and says stupid stuff, before my brain can catch up. Everything’s going to be okay. You’ll see.”

            “I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

            “Okay.” She says. Eleanor starts driving again. I point out to her where the bus is and she parks behind it, out of sight. I get out, getting my bags from her trunk before walking with her to the entrance of the tour bus. We enter the bus, which is stupidly unlocked. _It’s not like there could be crazed fans or serial killers mucking about._

            “Sit and make yourself comfortable, while I go put my stuff down.” I tell her. I go and put my bag on my bed. When I came back, Eleanor was sitting on the couch. “So what would you like to do?” I ask. I started heading towards the kitchen, “Are you hungry? I could get us a snack.”

            Before she could respond, Niall ran in yelling, “Food!”

            “Well I guess that answers that question.”

            Louis came running in yelling, “Allie!” He stopped seeing Eleanor on the couch. “Wait a sec, you’re not Allie! Who are you and what have you done with Allie?”

            “Lou, I’m right here.”

            “Oh thank God!” He came running towards me engulfing me into a hug. “Are you hurt? What did she do to you?”

            “She didn’t do anything. This is my friend Eleanor.”

            “Friend? Blink twice if she’s holding you against your will.”

            “Louis.”

            “Stop blinking I’m confused.”

            “Louis!”

            “Fine” Turning back towards Eleanor, “Hello kidnapper.”

            “Hi murderer.” She replied.

            “Excuse me?”

            “You heard what I said.”

            “She didn’t know about you guys, so when we got here she thought I was going to murder her.” I explain.

            He huffed, “Logical.”

            “Oh and like kidnapper was anymore logical then murderer.” Eleanor remarked.

            “Touché” Focusing his attention on me, “Allie however did you meet this person.”

            I was about to lie and say she was an old friend from school, but Eleanor beat me to it, “I saved her life. Pushed her right out of the way of a moving car that was about to run her over.”

            “You what!?!” Louis shouted, starting to look me over, “Allie are you hurt?”

            “Louis I’m fine.”

            “No you’re not. The kidnapper said you almost died.”

            “Who almost died?” Harry asks, entering the bus. “Hey Allie” He sees Eleanor on the couch, “Whose this?”

            “This is my friend, Eleanor.” I tell him.

            “Hi Eleanor. I’m Harry.” He says to her before turning back towards me, “That’s weird. Jess didn’t say anything about a friend.”

            “Harry apparently kidnapper-” Louis starts to say.

            “Wait who? There’s a kidnapper here?” Harry asks cutting Louis off.

            “It’s Eleanor. I’ll explain later.” I tell Harry.

            “Anyway, kidnapper saved Allie from getting hit by a car today.” Louis told him.

            “She what!?!” He rushed over to me, making sure I was okay before pulling me into a hug. “You almost died today, no wonder you weren’t feeling well.”

            Even though I didn’t want to I wriggled my way out of his embrace. “Guys I’m perfectly fine. And what’s this about me being sick?”

            Niall came back from the kitchen with a sandwich and a whole bunch of snacks in his hand. He sat down next to Eleanor, explaining, “Jess came by when we were in rehearsals. She said you weren’t feeling well and that you were resting in the bus.” He turned towards Eleanor, “Hello Allie’s friend.”

            “That bitch!” Eleanor yelled getting up. She turned towards Niall, sounding calm as she spoke, “Hey, nice to meet you.”

            “Whoa calm down kidnapper. You can’t just go off every time Jess does something bitchy.” Louis said.

            “Really this coming from the guy who does just that.” I point out.

            “Shut it.”

            “Look Jess left Allie stranded at the mall. So I drove her here. I’ve know Jess for only a couple of hours and I’ve already had enough of her.” Eleanor says. She looks towards Harry, “Sorry.”

            Harry just shrugged, before turning to me and asking, “Why didn’t you call? One of us would have come and gotten you.”

            “I did. I called Louis, but he didn’t answer his phone.”

            Harry tensed and looked a little off when I said I called Louis instead of him.

            “That was you?” Louis asks. He starts clenching his hands into fists as he hisses, “That bitch!! She told me it was nothing! When I get my hands on her.”

            “Now, now murderer.” Eleanor says mocking Louis; “We can’t go off on her every time she’s a bitch.”

            Louis glares at her, “Shut up.”

            “Speak of the devil.” Niall says as Jess, Liam and Zayn enter the tour bus. Jess stops dead in her tracks at the sight of Eleanor.

                        “What is she doing here?” Jess demanded. Ignoring Jess, I introduce Liam and Zayn to Eleanor. “Excuse me I asked a question.”

            “Well too bad. We aren’t answering any of yours until you answer ours. What the hell were you thinking!?! You just left Allie, your own sister, stranded in a mall in some foreign country and city! And if that wasn’t enough you left her alone after she had almost been hit by a car!” Louis shouted.

            “She was probably driving it.” Zayn pointed out before plopping down on the couch next to Niall.

            “Point for Zayn.” Louis faced Eleanor asking, “Kidnapper, can you shed some light on the matter at hand? Was the bitch behind the wheel?”

            “No murderer, she was on the sidewalk. However I am a little confused as to why you think Jess would try and kill her sister?”

            “I’ll tell you later.”

            “I’m holding you to that.” Eleanor replied, smiling. Louis grinned back, staring thoughtfully at her. Niall cleared his throat, effectively breaking them out of their moment, causing a slight red tint on both of their cheeks as they quickly looked away from the other.

            “Anyway, why the hell did you leave Allie?” Niall asks.

            Jess stands there, not answering, as she grits her teeth, looking as if she wants to punch something or someone. We all wait for her to say something, anything, but all she does is scream in frustration before storming out. Harry sighs before going after her.

            “This is going to be a long day.” Liam says.

            I turn to Eleanor asking, “The boys have to get back to rehearsal soon, but if you want you could stay.”

            “That sounds like fun. I’ll stick around.”

            “Ok, would you like to stay for dinner as well?”

            Louis mumbles something so low that it is nearly impossible to hear, “Would you like to stay forever?”

*********************************************************************************

            Even though Harry had come back to rehearse with the rest of the boys, Jess was still off somewhere pouting. Harry told us that she had calmed down enough, but wasn’t coming to watch the boys finish rehearsing.

            “Can everyone please not bring up what happened today again?” Harry pleads.

            “And why would we do that?” Niall points out.

            “Please, I know she was wrong but I’m losing patience with her and I can’t take another one of her outbursts.”

            “Welcome to my world.” I told him.

            “Look Allie, Jess did something wrong and I can’t keep comforting her when she put you in harms way. I don’t want to lose either of you, please can we not bring it up?” He begs.

            “Should of that of that before he started dating her.” Eleanor mumbled to me.

            Before I could respond, the boys were forced to start rehearsing again. Eleanor and I sat there talking quietly about this and that as the boys went through song after song. Throughout that time, Louis kept sneaking glances at Eleanor, flashing a smile every now and then. After several hours had gone by, I ordered a pizza so it would be here by the time the boys were finished. Fortunately the boys finished soon after, but when we walked back to the bus it was getting dark outside. We entered the bus to find that the pizza had arrived and was ready for us to eat. Jess came out of her hiding place, right when we started eating. Everyone except Harry ignored her.

            Louis turned to Eleanor, “So kidnapper, I’m assuming you don’t live near here.”

            “Correct.” Eleanor replies.

            “What are you doing here?”

            “I’m traveling.”

            “Are you just visiting here and then going home?” Niall asks.

            “No, I’m actually going to be staying for only a couple more days before continuing to travel the U.S.”

            “Cool. Are you traveling by yourself?” Zayn asks. Louis leaned in, very interested in what she had to say.

            “Yeah, my friend had to go back because of a family emergency.”

            “That’s sucks.

            “Not really because if she hadn’t left I wouldn’t have met Allie. My friend and I originally planned to leave here today.”

            “Thank God for that.” I say.

            We finished eating, and were now cleaning up when Louis pointed out that it was already 11:30 p.m.

            “It’s getting really late. Kidnapper would you like to stay for the night? I wouldn’t want you driving alone in the dark.” Louis asks.

            “So I should stay so you could kill me murderer?” Eleanor replies.

            “Louis right, Eleanor. It’s getting really late you should stay. We could have so much fun.” I plead.

            “Sure. I’d only going home to an empty house anyway.”

            “It’s settled then.”

            “Don’t I get a say?” Jess asks.

            “No” Louis and I simultaneously reply.

            “How about we all play a game?” Liam suggests.

            “Sounds like fun. I will be victorious, murdering you all!” Louis manically laughed.

            Eleanor jumps up shouting, “I knew it. I fucking knew it!”

            “Shut up kidnapper.”

            “Before we get off track, what game are we going to play?” Niall asks.

            “How about truth or dare?” Zayn suggests.

            “Fine, but there will be ground rules.” I demand, “There will be no dares where someone has to do any form of stripping.”

            “Party pooper.” Louis and Eleanor grumble.

            “And there will be only one time that you can back out of a dare and a truth. Everyone agreed?” I ask. Everyone nods his or her heads. “Good. Let’s begin.”

            We all sat in a circle, Harry on one side of me, and Niall on the other. Eleanor sat next to Louis and Jess of course sat next to Harry. Liam and Zayn sat down, putting as much space between them and Jess before starting to play. I went first daring Zayn to dye his hair blue. He used his one dare pass. Zayn dared Liam to go write, “Liam was here” in spray paint somewhere in the parking lot. Harry was next to be dared and he passed. Eleanor wimped out as Louis put it and choose truth. She had to tell us any and all nicknames she ever had. Some of those weren’t pretty. Apparently Eleanor had been bullied once. We went on like this until it was finally Jess’ turn. She turns towards me. _Crap._

            “Truth or dare?” Jess asks. _Why they hell did it have to be Jess?_ I didn’t know what to do. Knowing Jess, she would try to ask me a question about something that I really didn’t want to answer. So that left only one option.

            “Dare.” I reply.

            “Who was the guy you have a crush on that doesn’t feel the same?”

            I felt Niall get tense when hearing the question. My voice slightly trembled as I spoke, “What? I said dare.”

            “Well I dare you to answer the question.”

            “Jess that’s not how it works.” Eleanor tells her.

            “Yeah, she said dare, you can’t make her tell a truth.” Louis says, backing Eleanor up.

            “Yes I can.” Jess insisted. “Why don’t you want to tell us Allie?”

                        “I don’t want to tell you because I chose dare.”

            “Jess cut it out right now. You’re being unfair.” Harry told her.

            She glared at him, “You’re on her side?”

            “Yes. I say we put it to a vote. Everyone who thinks Allie should answer the question raise your hand.” Only Jess raised hers. “There you have it. Allie doesn’t have to answer it and you can’t ask Allie anymore truth or dare for the night.”

            Everyone shook his or her heads in agreement, while Jess fumed, “That’s not fair!”

            “You won’t play by the rules. Too fricken bad.” Louis told her.

            “Fine then Lewis, truth or dare?” Jess sneered.

            “Dare.”

            “I dare you to kiss Eleanor.” Louis face turned a slight shade of pink as he quickly leaned in, pecking her on the cheek. Eleanor looked a little disappointed that it was merely a peck on the cheek. “I told you to kiss her. Not peck her on the cheek.”

            “I did kiss her. You never said where.”

            Jess’s jaw and hands started to clench in anger. She took a deep breath, her body relaxing, but her gaze and voice was cold and harsh as she spoke, “I guess Louis just doesn’t like Eleanor. I’m not surprised really. Who would want to kiss her anyway?”

            Eleanor tensed, very hurt and mad at Jess words. “It’s my turn now.”

            “No it’s not, it’s Louis.”

            “Kidnapper you can have my turn.” Louis said, shooting daggers at Jess.

            Eleanor turned to Harry, “Truth or dare.”

            “Dare” Harry replied.

            “I dare you to kiss Allie” Eleanor told Harry. I froze in shock.

            “What!?!” Everyone but Eleanor screamed.

            “You heard me. And you can’t get out of it. You already used your pass.”

            “But I have a girlfriend. Can you please give me another dare.” Harry begged.

            “No.”

            “It’s okay.” Jess told Harry.

            “What!?!” We all yelled.

            “Jess you can’t mean that.” Harry says.

            “It’s just a kiss. It means nothing.”

            “But it’s Allie, you’re sister, my best friend.”

            “I said it was okay. Unless you have feelings for her and that’s why you won’t kiss her.”

            “What? I love you.”

            “Then kiss her.”

            “No”

            “So you do have feelings for her. I knew it! You don’t love me at all.” She screamed.

            “Will you stop?”

            “No. You love her. If you didn’t you would just kiss her already.” Jess ranted. Harry’s face started to turn red and his jaw clenched as he shook with anger. He quickly turned to me, grabbing my face in his hands. And before I could protest he smashed his lips to mine. I sat there in shock. _Holy shit! Harry’s kissing me._ My eyes fluttered close and I started to kiss him back. And as cliché as it sounds, I saw fireworks. Warmth radiated from his lips that sent sparks throughout my body, taking my breath away. His lips fitting perfectly against mine. It felt like we were made for each other. All too soon the kiss ended and he was pulling away. He stared at me wide eyed, slightly panting, as if he was really seeing me for the first time.

            The moment we shared was quickly broken, as he turned back towards Jess sounding a little breathless as he spoke, “There. Happy?”

            And I found myself thrown back into reality. The reality that Harry had a girlfriend who was my sister and everyone was staring at us.

            “I can’t believe you! You dick! You just kissed my sister!” Jess yells.

            “You told me to.”

            “Asshole! I knew it. I just knew it.” She screamed, storming off yet again.

            “It was just a kiss. It meant nothing!” He yelled, running after her. His words stung, like someone slapped me in the face. I struggled to keep my expression neutral, to not show how much what he said hurt, but I just wasn’t strong enough. I felt all of their eyes on me, watching my every move.

            Louis timidly starts to speak, “Allie-”

            “I’m going to bed.” I mumble, cutting him off. _I’ve got to get out of here._ I got up out of the circle and headed to my bunk; no one coming after me, probably all deciding that I needed space. I climbed in and closed the curtains, trying to cut myself off from the world. _I should have never let him get that close. He has a girlfriend. I can’t let him keep getting to me. It’s pathetic and its time I get over him._ A lone tear rolled down my cheek. _I’m just his friend and that’s all I’ll ever be._ The tears started to flow freely now as they silently rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t want to think about it, but that damn kiss kept playing over and over again in my head. It was a taste of something I would never have, of something perfect. It felt like it was meant to be, like we were made for each other. That stupid kiss made every feeling I’d been trying to suppress burst forth, breaking down my poorly constructed walls. Now that I knew what it felt like to kiss him, and that I would never again get to feel that, I silently cried a little harder. It was obvious now how foolish I am. I thought we both felt something between us, but it was just me. It was clear now that he might be the one for me, but I would never be the one for him. I was more pathetic now than ever. _How could it mean nothing to him when it meant everything to me?_


	21. Go Away and Let Her Stay

My eyes crusty and my head pounding, I wake to a day I wish I didn’t have to face. I don’t have to look in the mirror to know that I look like crap. I tried so hard not to cry but in the end it was a moot point cause the damn eventually broke and I cried myself to sleep. I’m disappointed in myself for letting him get to me again. I need to move on and I just feel like I haven’t one bit. It’s starting to get ridiculous and I don’t know how much heartache I can face. There was only one good thing that came out of last night, and it wasn’t that stupid kiss. It was the cold hard truth and maybe this is exactly what I needed. This will give me the strength and resolve to finally move on. From this point on he is nothing more to me then a friend.

            The bus was eerily quiet, which in no way would help me for my plan for this morning. I had woken up earlier then everyone else. I just wanted to get out of this metal trap and get some fresh air to clear my head. I got up slowly, stepping out of my bunk. I thank whoever is up there that I got one of the bottom bunks as I sneak towards the bathroom with a bundle of clothes and toiletries in my hands. My heart starts to beat a little harder as the bathroom door gets closer. _I’m almost home free. Well sort of, I have to get out of this bus first. Shut up and let me have this._

            “Allie?”

            _God damnit._ I turn to see Louis standing there dressed in some sweats and a loose t-shirt. His hair is sticking up, messily in all directions, looking half asleep.

            “Yes?” I whisper.

            “What are you doing?” he asks.

            “Going to diffuse a bomb. What the f*ck does it look like I’m doing Louis? I’m going to get dressed.”

            “Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bus this morning.” He sighed, “I get why you’re acting like this. So I won’t take it personally if you’re a little sassy and snappy this morning. I just want you to know that I’m here for you Allie, whenever you need me, no matter what. I’ve known you long enough to know that this is bothering you and you need to talk to someone about this.”

            I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There is nothing bothering me.”

            And with that I turn my back on him, opening the bathroom door and locking it behind me. I put my clothes down, letting out a soft sigh. _Don’t you dare cry. You’re through with that remember?_ I nodded my head, for once winning the battle between my unshed tears. Looking into the mirror, I saw puffy red-rimmed eyes that showed exactly just how much sleep I had gotten last night looking back at me. _I look like shit._ I sigh. _This might be tougher then I thought._ A new sense of determination filled me as I set to work putting on my make up, covering up any evidence of how I was truly feeling. I wouldn’t let anything with Harry affect me any more. The only way to truly get back at him and over this whole thing is to act like the kiss didn’t affect me at all. _Crap no!_ His stupid words started to play over and over again in my head. _It was just a kiss. It meant nothing._

 _Nope not today asshole, you don’t get to affect me._ I stared myself down in the mirror, willing the hurt and pain to go away. _Today was a new day and a new me._ I smiled and exited the bathroom with my stuff in hand. Louis wasn’t there when I came out and I didn’t really care. I stalked back over to my bunk, putting my stuff on it, before moving to the bus door.

            “Allie, where are you going?” A familiar voice behind me asks. I sigh. _You have got to be kidding me._ I turn, facing Eleanor.

            “I’m going for a walk.” I tell her.

            “Oh” She shifted slightly. I could tell she wanted to come, but didn’t want to ask. Probably thinking that she would be intruding. I could see the curiosity swirling behind her eyes. She wanted to know about last night. I didn’t want to talk about it; cause there was nothing to talk about. Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself. I wanted to be alone, but at the same time I didn’t. I didn’t want to be left with the thoughts that I knew would surely climb out from the shadows of my mind.

            Surprisingly, I found myself asking, “You wanna come with?”

            Clearly shocked by the words that had just come out of my mouth, she scanned my face for any sign of regret or reluctance. Still unsure of my true intentions she tentatively asked, “You don’t mind?”

            I smile, “Not one bit.”

            She’s still unsure, I can see it in her eyes; and to be honest, so am I. But she doesn’t say anything. We walk out the bus door, closing it softly behind us. I didn’t know where I wanted to go; I just knew I had to put as much space between the bus and myself as possible. So I started wandering towards the right with Eleanor following behind. She soon caught up to me and we were walking side by side. _Let’s see how long this lasts. One, two, three…._

            “So Allie…” _Damnit. I thought I would at least get to five._

            “Yeah?”

            “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly happened last night?”

            I sighed. _Yes, I do mind._ “Louis didn’t tell you?”

            She shook her head, “He said I had to ask you.”

            I nodded my head, in thought. _Good to know Tommo can still be a good friend, unlike some people. No! Don’t let those thoughts in!_ I looked behind us to see if we were far enough from the bus, before I let the floodgates open. As the bus got farther and farther away, I began to think on if I really wanted to go through this again. I was sick of this, this constant state of me retelling every little thing over and over again about Harry and I. And above all I hated the pity I saw in their eyes every time. _Did I really want another person to know?_

            Sighing, I knew I exactly what I had to do, I had to tell her. “I’ve told this story so many times, but never to the person who counts the most.” I told her. I turn toward her looking her in the eye, “Before I go any further, let me make one thing clear. I don’t want any pity. I’ve had enough pity to last me a lifetime. If I see any, I’m stopping whatever I am saying and I’m leaving you here. Got it?” She nods. “Good. I barely know you, but for some reason I feel like I can trust you. Maybe it’s because right off the bat you stood up for me and went toe to toe with my sister. I can’t thank you enough for that.” I took a deep breath, needing the break to give me the courage to continue. _It’s not like you haven’t done this before._ “I’m in love with Harry.”

            Her face showed no emotions. It was if she didn’t hear me. Suddenly as if something clicked in her brain, her eyes widened. I readied myself to leave, but instead she shocked me. Instead of pity, I saw guilt pass over her features.

            “I’m so sorry Allie. I’m such an idiot. I was so selfish, all I wanted to do was put that bitch in her place. I never once thought about you.” She says.

            “It’s okay. Really it is. You did something I could never do by myself. You opened my eyes to the truth. And for the first time, I can say that I’m over him and that I can actually move on.”

            “But Allie-“

            “No don’t you see. I felt nothing when we kissed.” _Liar._ “I refuse to spend another minute crying over that stupid asshole. You opened my eyes to see that he isn’t worth my tears. I can finally be happy now.”

            She wanted to say more. I could see it in her eyes. _Drop it. You will drop it right now._ “Okay if that’s how you really feel then...”

            “It is.”

            “Okay” and with that she was silent. _Holy shit I can’t believe that worked._

            “Eleanor if it’s okay with you I would like to continue my walk alone. It’s nothing to do with you I just need time to myself. Everyone on the bus knows except for Jess and Harry of course. I need time to prepare myself for the bombardment of ‘Are you okay?’ and pity looks I’m going to get from them.”

            “It’s okay Allie, I understand.”

            “Thank you.”

            She nods, looking a little out of it, before walking back to the bus. I sigh when she is out of earshot, feeling as if I can finally breathe. _If this is what it is like with Eleanor, I shudder to think what it is going to be like when I’m around Jess and Harry._ I continue walking around aimlessly. Apparently the weather does not copy my mood like I would have hoped, because it’s nice out. I can’t help but feel as if this walk would be more dramatic if it was pouring rain. My sobs could be drowned out by it. _No I will not cry. Remember, I will not shed one more tear over that oblivious lying asshole!_ For some reason cursing, even in my head, always makes me feel just a little bit better. I don’t care if my vulgar language is un-lady like, they can shove it where the sun don’t shine for all I could care. _He doesn’t like girls who swear. Who the f*ck cares?_ That’s what I most proud about during this shit storm that is my life. I never changed for him. I always stayed true to myself and if he can’t see how wonderful I am then it’s his loss, not mine.

            Breaking out of my thoughts, I look around to see that I had walked all the way to the other side of the arena. _Wow I walk faster than I thought._ There were a crowd of people unloading amps and other equipment. _Probably for the show tonight. Didn’t Niall say something about stuff not working properly?_ I shrug those thoughts off, not really wanting to be bothered to think about them. I continued walking, pretending that they weren’t even there, looking up into the clouds. _Huh, that one kind of looks like a—_

            “Excuse me miss...” A voice says, jarring me from my thoughts. Shocked at the unexpected voice, I turn to look at its owner. A young man wearing all black, expect for the grey snap back on his head, is looking at me expectantly with dark brown eyes. From what I can tell of the hair peaking out from under his snap back, his hair is jet black. He was extremely fit and not bad looking at all. He clears his throat forcing me to stop from taking in his features. “Did you hear what I said?”

            I shake my head, “No sorry.”

            He sighs, his tone becoming more and more condescending as he speaks, “Look I understand that these boys probably mean the world to you and you might just die if you don’t see them…”

            “Excuse me,” I incredulously told him.

            He continues on as if he didn’t even hear me, “…but you aren’t allowed back here. And frankly how the hell did you get in anyways? The gates are locked.”

            “Who the hell do you think you are?” I fumed. “Even if I wasn’t allowed here, you don’t need to talk to me in some condescending tone, as if you are better then me when we both know that if your favorite sports player was to walk by you’d shit your pants.”

            He glared at me, “Miss calm down.”

            I glared right back at him, “I am calm. I’m allowed back here, it is you who don’t know what hell you’re talking about. Why don’t you go back to setting up the equipment you over glorified nerd.”

            “I know you think that you belong here, but you don’t.” He turned his head, calling behind him, “Security!”

            I reach in my pocket for my phone, only to come up empty handed. _Damnit! I must have left it on the bus._ Two big men came running over in bright red jackets. _Damnit._ They were general security from the venue not one of the boys security detail. They came up to us. They were both huge and the only difference between the two was hair color. One was blond and the other was a red head. The red head started keeping a careful eye on me, inching closer to me probably in case I made a run for it.

            “What seems to be the problem here?” The blond one asks, his voice surprisingly sounding calm and nice.

            “She’s not allowed back here.” The tech guy tells them.

            The blond turns to me, “Miss, I’m afraid he’s right.”

            The tech guy gives me a smug look, as if he has won. _Ha!_ I sigh. Not wanting the situation to get worse, I calmly tell them, “Look as I told geek squad over here, I am allowed to be back here. But I understand, as I have no identification that says as such, that you need to check because of security reasons. I will cooperate and go where you need me to go. All I ask is that you call Paul—the boys’ head of security— for he will verify who I am and that nerd herd comes with.”

            “No, they will not. Just because you know the name of their head of security, a fact that every One Direction fan knows, does not entitle you to special treatment. They will escort you off the premises.” The tech guy fumes.

            I glare at him, wanting to burn a hole through his thick skull. In a sickly sweet tone, “If you want a shit storm to come down on your ass, go right ahead and walk me off the premises. But if you would like to keep your jobs I would suggest making the call.”

            “Look there is no harm in doing what she asks. She’s not going to shut up about it and if it turns out that she is right it is better this way. It’s better safe then sorry.” The red head says.

            I turn towards him, “Thank you and lead the way.”

            “This is ridiculous.” The tech guy whines. “You all will look like fools when we get yelled at because we let this girl waste everyone’s time.”

            I smirk, “I can’t wait to see the look on your face.”

            The red head sticks close by me while the blond leads the way with tech guy close behind. We enter the arena; twisting down hallways that are the usual concrete floors and white walls. After at least 10 minutes of walking the blond leads us to a room that looks like it used to be someone’s office.

            “Have a seat.” He tells me, while he goes over to the phone. His partner stays positioned by the door. I do as he says plopping down in one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs in front of the black desk. The blond guy starts talking to whoever is on the other side of the phone, hopefully Paul, while techie is slumped against one of the walls glaring daggers into the side of my head. To piss him off a little more, I sit there grinning like a cat. Soon the blond hangs up, turning towards me he says, “He’s on his way.”

            “Good. Soon we can get this all over with and I will be proven right.” The tech guy says.

            I giggle, “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

            Before he can reply, with what I am sure he thinks is a witty comeback, Paul walks through the door. He looks around the room, sighing when he sees me sitting in the chair grinning like the Cheshire cat. “What’s going on here?”

            “She was found trespassing, sir.” The blond tells him

            “It’s not trespassing when I am allowed to be there.” I say. I turn to look at Paul. “This is really your fault you know.”

            “How is this my fault?” Paul asks.

            “You didn’t give me a pass Paul. You didn’t give me a pass.”

            He sighs, “I didn’t think you would be dumb enough to wander without someone.”

            “Hey! You really think I would want to be with them 24/7 with everything that is going on. I just wanted to time to myself. I didn’t realize I went that far. God, I thought at least you’d have the decency to tell the security people who I was. Rude!”

            He rolls his eyes, “You’ve been spending too much time with Louis.”

            “Which is why I wanted some time to myself. I need to be my own person. Jeez Paul, it’s like you don’t even understand.”

            He sighs, clearly done with the conversation. _Meaning I won._ “She is allowed here guys.”

            I turn towards techie, looking smugly at him as his face blanches. And the look on his face, priceless. _Damnit I wish I had a camera._

            The red head is the first to speak up, “So sorry to bother you sir, but we just weren’t sure. We didn’t want to risk it.”

            “Nothing to be sorry for, you both were doing your jobs.” He turns towards me, “Will you be able to make it back on your own?”

            “If you’re asking if I know the way back then yes, but I don’t think I should go alone. For all we know another idiot might mistake me for some crazy lovesick fan again.” I say glaring at the tech guy who is looking at the floor sheepishly.

            “You have a point.”

            “Sir, I would just like to say I feel awful about the situation.” Techie says. _Good you should dumbass._ “In order to make it up to her, I could escort her back.”

            I glare at him, “Don’t you have some equipment to set up?”

            “It’s fine. Take her back and then get back to work.” Paul tells him.

            Not happy about this one bit, I quickly get out of my seat and walk out of the room. Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough because techie is following closely behind as we make our way out of this underground concrete maze. We walked in silence, but I knew from past experiences that it wasn’t going to last. And I was proven right as soon as we stepped outside.

            “Look I want to say I’m sorry.” Techie says.

            “Sorry for what? Being an idiot or talking to me like some condescending asshole.” I snap.

            “For both.” He mumbles.

            “Good.” I sigh, “Look, I get that you were just doing what you thought was right cause lets face it your job clearly isn’t security, but that still gives you no right to have talked to me like that.”

            “I know...”

            “You know? Are you sure about that? Cause you are exactly the type of people who shame people for being enthusiastic about what the love. Yes there are fans out there who are a little over the top but it doesn’t mean they aren’t human beings. And for every over the top fan there is one who owes their life to them. When the world turns their back on you, you cling to any little light that you can find. And for a lot of them those boys are their lights. So next time think before you open your god awful mouth.”

            He hung his head low, looking as if he was a five year old that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Thinking I had finally shut him up, I walk a little faster hoping to leave him behind. Suddenly a hand shoots out, forcing me to stop and look at him.

            His hand leaves my arm, as he begins to speak, “I get that I messed up, really I do. Can we just start over? Hi, I’m Sam.” He holds out his hand, his eyes willing me to shake it. I just stand there staring at it as if it was some monster that was going to jump out at me at any second. “It won’t bite I promise.”

            I look up at him ready to hurl some more insults at his stupid face. But his tentative smile and puppy dog eyes stop me. _Are you freaking kidding me?_ I sigh, taking his hand and shaking it. “Allie”

            “Nice to meet you Allie.” He grins.

            “Mhmm”

            We start walking back, him never shutting up, going on about this and that. The conversation isn’t one sided of course, I was brought up better than that. _Damnit._ He actually isn’t as bad as I thought, especially how he admitted that I was right about him shitting his pants if he saw Kobe Bryant, who is apparently his favorite sports player. Soon we found ourselves getting closer and closer to the bus. Not really wanting to go back just yet, I began dragging my feet. Despite being a dumbass, this boy is more observant than I originally thought. He noticed my change in pace and demeanor a lot quicker then I would have liked.

            “Are you okay?” He asks.

            “Yeah,” I sigh. “Just don’t want to go back quite yet.”

            He nods his head in understanding. “We could always stay out here and talk a little bit more if you like.”

            We stop a few feet away from the bus and I look up at him and smile. “Yeah I’d like that.”

            He smiles back at me, looking at me with this glimmer in his eyes. Something about him is off putting at this moment and I can’t quite put my finger on it. The look he is giving me seems familiar and I don’t know why. Before I can ask him about it, he’s moving in and his lips meet mine.

************************************************************************************

**Earlier…**

**Louis’ POV**

            After my encounter with Allie, I went back to my bunk. I lay there hoping I could just get go back to sleep. _It’s too early for this shit._ Sleep continued to evade me, no matter what I did. _Forget this. If I’m awake might as well get dressed._ I groaned getting up, getting my stuff and making my way to the bathroom. I slowed, hearing hushed voices. I slowly crept my way closer to the voices. _Look at what Allie’s made me become? I spy on people. I’m a spy. Tomlinson, Louis Tomlinson._ I clutched the wall, peeking around the corner to see Allie by the bus door talking to Eleanor. _Looks like someone caught Allie sneaking out._ I couldn’t quite hear what they were saying but it looks like Eleanor wants to go with Allie. _She’ll tell Eleanor to leave her alone and then I can swoop in, comforting Eleanor._ Allie sighs, nodding her head at a surprised Eleanor. _What!?! What the hell!?! she’ll let her come but not me, her best friend? What kind of bullshit is this!?! She probably just needs someone who is female to talk to. Shut up, this is no time for rational thought!_

I watch them leave the tour bus, before straightening up and continuing what I was doing before. _What was I doing before? Going to the bathroom. Oh yeah that’s right._ I entered the bathroom, closing the door behind me and got dressed. I left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. By the time I was done, they still weren’t back yet. I look at the clock. They’d been gone for twenty minutes and I wasn’t going to start worrying until they’d been gone at least for two hours. Allie needed all the time alone she could get. Last nights events played through my head like a bad dream. _Why couldn’t I just have grown a pair and kissed Eleanor? If I had none of it would have happened._ I could still see the look on her face as Harry’s words tore through her yet again. I didn’t think I would ever see someone utterly lose all hope. _And it was all my fault._

            I gave her space and now I fear I only made things worse. I couldn’t hear her tears but I knew they were falling. _I should have been there. What kind of friend am I? No matter if stuff might still be a little awkward between us, I should have been there._ And because of me, Niall didn’t go after her either. He could have done what I didn’t but I wouldn’t let him. I just made everything worse. _Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems. I could talk to Eleanor and see what Allie told her, see how she is._ I felt a new sense of determination run through me as I made my way back to my bunk. _I will make this right._

************************************************************************************

            I heard the bus door close, and shot out of my bunk. They had been gone a little over an hour and I was dying to find out what happened. I went towards the front of the bus. Expecting to see both of them back, I was surprised to see only Eleanor, who was sitting next to the counter slumped over it. Concern washed over me as I walked towards her.

            “Good morning Kidnapper.” I say.

            She looks up surprised at the sound. When she sees me she relaxes a little mumbling, “Oh hi Louis.”

            I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth. I rush over to her, “What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?” I put my hand to her forehead and what looks to be a ghost of a smile tries to break across her face before going back to her gloom. “No it’s must be something worse. Oh my God you’re dying! No you cannot die on me! I will not be blamed for your death.” I started to pretend I was talking to a police officer. “No officer I swear I didn’t do anything. She just collapsed!” She sat there not even cracking a smile. I dropped the act, “Either I’m loosing my touch or you really must be sick.”

            She shook her head, “I just feel awful about last night.”

            “Oh that. I’m guessing Allie told you huh?” I ask, sitting down next to her.

            “Yeah when I caught her trying to sneak out this morning. She asked me to go on a walk with her.”

            “Is she alright?”

            “Yeah, she seems alright. Like scary alright, if you know what I mean?”

            “I don’t follow.”

            “I think she’s pushing all of her feelings aside, and locking them up. That’s not healthy Louis.”

            I nod, agreeing with her, “Yeah it’s not, but it’s also a horrible situation to be in. She can’t do anything without hurting someone and she hates the thought of hurting someone so she hurts herself instead.”

            “Well at least she says it’s over. She said she felt nothing.”

            “She’s lying.”

            “She didn’t seem to be lying when she told me.”

            “That’s maybe what she is telling herself now to get over it. But the look she had on her face afterwards said everything.” I turn towards her more, looking her right in the eye. “Look there is no way you could have known, so please don’t blame yourself for this. Don’t blame yourself for not knowing everything in the whole wide world. Some people just can’t be as fortunate as me.”

            She cracks a smile, “Okay I’ll try.”

            “Good. Now where is Allie?”

            “She wanted some time alone.”

            “Oh I see.”

            “Yeah.” She slightly slumps in her seat again.

            “Nope you stop that train of thought right there, missy.”

            She looks up at me, “How’d you know?”

            “I told you I know everything.” _I’ve transformed from spy to the all-seeing Tomlinson._

            She laughs, “Yeah right. Keep telling yourself that murderer.”

            I grin. “Good to see you’re back kidnapper.”

            Her smile starts to fade a bit, “Yeah, but not for long. I’m going to leave soon.”

            “Are you sure you can’t stay a little bit longer?” I plead, pouting my lower lip out, eyes becoming wide. I can see her struggling to not give in.

            “I could stay just a bit longer.” _Success!_ I grin. “But I really do need to be getting back. I have to pack, I’m leaving tomorrow.”

            I slump a little bit, not liking how little time I had left with her. I put a smile on my face and look at her, “Then we’re going to have to make the most of the time we have left won’t we?”

            We started talking, getting to know one another more and more as time went by. We were having a blast goofing off and even playing a couple video games here and there. She may or may not have beaten me at Fifa a couple of times. She started getting hungry so we made our way back to the kitchen. She sat at the counter, while I got her some cereal. I handed her the bowl, which she thanked me for, gulping it down as if it were nothing. _At least someone appreciates my cooking._ After I put her bowl away for her, we started throwing pieces of cereal into each other’s mouths seeing who could get the most in a row.

            I caught, in a row, my tenth piece of cereal. I grinned, shouting loudly while I munched on my victory, “Ha! I am victorious! Bow down to me peasant!” I jumped on the counter and began dancing around. She starts laughing hysterically, clutching at her sides.

            “So this is what all the noise is about.” Liam says walking into the kitchen. He looks between Eleanor and I before sending a smirk my way. The look he gives me doesn’t affect my smile in the slightest.

            “Good Morning Hunny!” I beam. “You sleep good?

            “Morning Liam.” El says, smiling at him.

            “Morning.” He turns to me, “Lou get down off the counter before you hurt yourself.”

            “I won’t I’m not a klutz like Harry. I have control of my limbs.” I say, even though I get down anyway. Liam’s expression sobers; he wants to say something but doesn’t. Instead he looks wearily at Eleanor. “She knows.”

            He relaxes a little before asking, “Have you talked to her? How is she?”

            “Calm down Liam. She’s not dying. She’s–“

            Before I could finish Jess storms into the room cutting me off with her screeching, “What’s with all the noise!?!? I’m trying to get my beauty sleep.”

            I smirk, “You’re right because you need all the sleep you can get.”

            She glares at me and opens her mouth to start spewing insults at me, but before she can, Liam cuts her off.

            “Where’s Harry?” he asks.

            “He’s in bed. Says he’s not feeling well.” She replies, her glare never leaving me.

            “I can’t imagine why.” I mumble. “Probably cause he ruined Allie’s life.”

            “What did you say Louis?” She asks

            I send her a sickly sweet smile, “Nothing”

            She narrows her eyes at me, before turning to Eleanor, “And what are you doing here? Can’t you tell when you’re not wanted?”

            “Oh I can. You might need to work on it though.” Eleanor snaps.

            “I’m not going to take this. I’m going out for some fresh air.”

            “Oh look you can tell. I was beginning to think you were hopeless.”

            Liam and I try and were failing at holding our laughter in. Jess huffed, before storming out of the bus, slamming the door behind her.

            “Good riddance.” I remark.

************************************************************************************

**Allie’s POV**

            I raise my arms, ready to push him off.

            “Something smells out here.” A voice stated. We break apart and I turn to see Jess standing there, with shock and contempt. “ I thought something was leaking from the bus but nah it was you.”

            I glared at her, “Are you sure you’re not smelling yourself?”

            “F*ck you.” She hissed, getting up into my face.

            I stepped back, slightly pushing her away from me as I told her, “Oh get over it. No guy is worth fighting over. We’re sisters for f*ck sakes. We should be standing by one another because one day all we’re going to have is each other. We shouldn’t let stupid things come between us, especially when we both know that the blame is not on me. You want to hit me, go right ahead. I won’t stop you. But just know that if you do this, what kind of person does that make you?”

            She stood at first tense but then her breathing started to even out. I could see the wheels in her mind turning, mulling my words over. _She’s going to do the right thing._ Suddenly something else clicked in her brain, and the calm Jess had was gone. She raised her fist, swinging it out fast towards my face. True to my word, I stood there with eyes closed and bracing for the impact. Seconds ticked by and still nothing. _Don’t open your eyes stupid._ It would be just my luck to do it and then her fist would hit me, catching me off guard. The sound of skin hitting skin rang through my ears, but I felt nothing. _Holy shit! I’m Wonder Woman!_ I opened my eyes to see a fist trapped by someone’s hand mere inches in front of my face. Jess’ face was fuming, red creeping up her neck and tinting her face. But was even more surprising was that her heated glare wasn’t aimed at me but rather Sam. It was him who had stopped her. _Huh, forgot he was there. Hey, that bastard kissed me! Focus Allie, kill him later._ He held on tight to her, pushing her fist away. She tried to get me again, swinging wildly with her other fist. But just as before, Sam stopped her before she could hit me.

            “Sorry, but I didn’t agree to sit back and watch.” He told her. She growled, harshly bringing her arms to her side. She looked as if she was going to explode. Realizing she was outmatched she merely let out a mix of a scream and a grunt before storming off. I watched her go, slightly shocked at what happened. _She was going to punch me. She actually wanted to hurt me._ What surprised me though wasn’t that I was shocked at her but that I wasn’t. I actually expected her to hit me. I had lost all faith in her.

            “Well that was interesting.” Sam said.

            I was so deep in thought, that I actually flinched a little bit at the sound of his voice, surprised that he was here. _Whoops I forgot about him again._

            A blush covered my cheeks, embarrassed at the fact that he had to witness that. “Yeah, sorry about that. For a while now our relationship has been…”

            “Tense?”

            “Yeah” I turned towards him, looking him in the eyes. “Thanks for stopping her.” I smiled sweetly at him and he smiled back at me. I dropped the smile and slapped him hard.

            “Ow! What the hell was that for?!?!!?”

            “Figure it out!” I growled before stomping off towards the bus. Not once did I look back at him. I ripped open the tour bus door, slamming it behind me as I climbed in. Mad and frustrated, I felt something bubble up in inside me, demanding to be released. So I screamed in frustration, letting it all out. After I let it all out, I felt better. I straighten up, taking a breath, I looked up to see Louis, Liam, Niall, Zayn, and Eleanor all looking at me with wide eyes and ‘what the hell’ written all over their faces. I let out a nervous laugh, “Hi.”

            Zayn was the first to speak, “Hello there.”

            Acting as if they didn’t just see me scream my lungs out and hoping they would get the hint, I walked over to Eleanor, sitting down next to her.

            “You were gone for a while. Did you have a nice walk?” Eleanor asks. _Thank God one of them has brains._

            “Yeah it was nice.” Mumbling under my breath “would have been a lot nicer if someone hadn’t shown up.”

            “What was that?” Louis asks, faking innocence.

            I narrowed my eyes at him, “I said it was very relaxing. Kind of wishing I had stayed out longer.”

            “Well it’s a good thing you didn’t or I couldn’t have said goodbye.”

            “WHAT!?!?!” Louis and I exclaim.

            “I have to go back and pack my stuff. I’m leaving today.”

            “Are you going back home?” Niall asks.

            “No. I’m not sure just yet where but I’m going west.” Eleanor replies. _This sucks. I don’t want her to leave._

            “Oh well it’s a shame that you can’t stay longer.”

            Suddenly an absolutely wonderful idea popped into my head. I walk over to Louis, grabbing by his arm and pulling him off his chair.

            “Ow, hey! What are you doing? Where are you taking me? Help quick she’s kidnapping me! Kidnapper has turned her against us. Allie snap out of your Stockholm syndrome.” Louis shouts. I ignore him and continue dragging him out the door.

            “Stay.” I tell him, before turning to go back inside.

            “I am not a dog. I will not just…Hey! Where are you going?”

            I close the door behind me, not paying the least bit attention to his antics. _He just couldn’t shut up and be sneaky fro once in his life could he._ I look up at the rest of the boys. _Good Harry is still not here._ Eleanor, who was probably in the bathroom, was nowhere to be seen.

            “Hey could you guys come outside with me for a sec?” I ask.

            “Sure” They reply. I go back outside with them trailing behind.

            “Are you back to apologize?” Louis asks.

            I continue to ignore him and instead wait for the rest of them so I can begin. As soon as I see the bus door is completely shut, I turn my attention to the four boys standing in front of me.

            “Okay here is what’s going to happen.” I focus on Liam, Zayn and Louis. “You all owe me, so you are going to agree to this no matter what, understand?”

            Zayn and Liam nod right away, but like always Louis puts up a fuss. “Woah, woah, woah, woah.” He puts his arms ups, palms open. “Hold up, hold up. Wait just a minute. What do I owe you? And how do Liam and Zayn owe you? And if you think I’m going to blindly agree to whatever you say, you’ve got another thing coming.”

            “How Zayn and Liam owe me is none of your concern.” He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off, “And if you think that for one second I had forgotten that you drugged me to get me on the plane, then you’ve got another thing coming. You owe me. Just because I have forgiven you, does not mean you do not have to make it up to me. And if you’d shut up, I’d explain it to you.”

            He hung his head, looking sheepishly at the floor.

            “What about me?” Niall asks.

            “You dont owe me anything. I’m asking you for a favor.”

            “What is it?”

            “I’m getting to that. Now could you stop interrupting me?” He nodded. “Good. Now here is my idea. I want to invite Eleanor to come with us for the rest of the tour.”

            “OMG why didn’t you say it sooner?! Best idea ever!!!” Louis shouts, grabbing on to me, crushing me into a hug. He stiffens realizing what he had done, and lets go of me. A blush slowly creeps up into his cheeks as he backs away, straightening, clearing his throat as he speaks, “Yeah cause Allie can have someone to talk to that doesn’t have a dick. At least I don’t think Kidnapper has a dick. Plot twist!”

            “Yeah right. That’s why it’s the best idea ever.” Liam scoffs.

            “Are you calling me a liar? That’s just rude.”

            “If the shoe fits.”

            “Well Louis is right about one thing. That is the reason I want Eleanor to stay. It would be nice to have another girl who isn’t my sister.” I tell them.

            “And who isn’t a bitch.” Louis adds. I turn to glare at him. “What we were all thinking it. I just had the balls to say it.”

            “Wait, what? You’re a man? Louis, you lied to me all these years!” Zayn fake cries.

            “And what are you Mr. I-can-reach-all-the-high-notes? Mr. I-take-twenty-hours-to-fix-the-cinnamon-roll-on-my-head-that-I-call-hair.”

            “Hey!”

            “Okay boys that’s enough!” I say, my tone leaving no room for argument.

            “Since I’m the only one who really has a say in this, its okay if you invite El to come on tour with us.” Niall states.

            I run up to Niall, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. “Thank you! Thank you!”

            “Come on, let’s go tell Kidnapper before she leaves.” Louis shouts, slightly bouncing up and down. He runs off, back towards the bus door, barely looking behind to see if we were following.

            Zayn smirks, “Guys I’m just not convinced. I don’t think he wants her to come. I think we should slow down, and talk this over some more. This is a big decision and Louis is just not in the right mind to make big decisions. He just found out he was a man.”

            Niall snickers. He clears his throat before adding, “I completely agree with you. Let’s stop and think about this for a while.”

            “I hate you all! I knew I should have gone solo.” Louis states in an over dramatic tone.

            “Like that worked so well for you the first time.” I mumble.

            “What did you say Allie? What, was that?”

            “Nothing.”

            “That’s what I thought.”

            Despite Zayn’s teasing, we kept an even pace and got to the bus door rather quickly. Once Louis saw that we were all here, he grasped the door’s handle and swung it open. Eleanor was blocking our path with bag in hand and one in the air, reaching for the doorknob that was no longer there.

            “What are you doing kidnapper?” Louis asks.

            “I’m leaving.” Eleanor replies. “Remember? I told you I had to go back to my friend’s house.”

            “No, you’re not leaving.” I tell her.

            “What do you mean?” She asks. “Wait are you guys going to murder me?!!? I knew it! Don’t, please! I’m too young to die!”

            “El calm down, no one is going to murder you.”

            “Then why wont you let me leave?”

            “Because silly, I want to ask you if you’d like to come on tour with me and the boys.”

            “Brilliant. Invite the person we just met to come on tour with us. Its not like she could be psycho or anything.” Louis remarks.

            Eleanor protests, “Hey! I dispute that assertion!”

            Zayn smirks, “Yeah Louis. What’s with the sudden change in attitude? I distinctly remember you saying that it was—“

            “The worst idea ever.” He said, glaring at Zayn.

            “You hurt me murderer. I’m wounded. Wounded!” Eleanor cries.

            “Hey! That’s my thing! Allie she’s stealing my thing. What’s next Niall’s boyish good looks? Liam’s chivalry? Zayn’s…ummm…not sure what he’s got that she’d want. But it doesn’t matter. When will the madness end?” Louis whines

            “Okay, well Louis clearly has made his point. Let’s move on from the mayor of crazy town. What do you say Eleanor?” I ask.

            “I’m not psycho!” Eleanor shouts.

            “About coming on tour with us El.”

            She blushes, “Oh.” She stays silent, clearly mulling it over. “You really want me to stay?”

            “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

            “I just thought after last night…”

            “I don’t blame you for anything. I want you around. If I didn’t I wouldn’t be asking.”

            She starts to concentrate, really thinking it over. “Well I’m going to have to take some time to think about it.”

            “Okay, I totally understand. A decision like this takes some—“

            “Of course I’d love to come with you guys!” She exclaims, cutting me off.

            “Yay!” I scream, jumping up and down, unable to contain my excitement. I pull her quickly into a hug. I haven’t been this happy in a while and it felt nice.

            “I do have to leave though.”

            “What!?!” Louis exclaims. “I thought you just said you’d love to go.”

            “I have to go back to my friends house to get my stuff, unless you’d like to buy me all new clothes. Silly murderer.” Eleanor replies.

            “Oh.” Louis blushes, looking sheepishly “I forgot about that.”

            “Do you need any help? I could come with you and help you pack.” I ask.

            “That would be great! Thank you!” Eleanor says.

            “I’ll come too.” Louis says. I give him a strange look. _This boy can’t decide on anything._ He must notice the look I’m giving him for he then he says, “Someone’s got to free the people Kidnapper’s got in her basement.”

            Eleanor ignores Louis and says, “I’m not keeping it a secret that I’m with you guys. I don’t want to add to the body count that murderer probably has.”

            “Its okay.” I reassure her. “Tell who you need but try to keep it to just your family.”

            “Aww, but I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.” She jokes.

            “Great we let a crazy person come with us,” Louis fake grumbles.

            “That ship had long passed set sail. After all they have you with them.”

            “Hey! Allie she’s calling me crazy!”

            “You called me crazy first.”

            “Now, now children.” I tell them. “Can we stop the squabbling and get going? Do I need to remind you that you do have a show tonight and we have to get back before this place becomes a zoo.”

            “You’re right. Just give me a sec to put these back in the bus. All I really need is my wallet and keys.” Eleanor says. And with that she turns around and goes back into the bus. Liam, Niall and Zayn follow suit, leaving Louis and I outside waiting for her. The door of the bus closes behind them, giving me the perfect opportunity to talk to Louis.

            I turn to him, asking, “What’s with the complete 180 you did back there?”

            “I don’t know what you mean.” He replies, playing dumb.

I glare at him, “Louis.”

“What?” I continue to glare at him. “Fine. I didn’t want to seem too eager.”

“You idiot! Now it looks like you don’t want her around at all!”

“No! I didn’t mean that! Crap.”

“Dumbass.”

            “I’ll fix it you’ll see.”

            “You can’t drug her.”

            “What? Where did this come from? I would never.”

            “Cup of tea.”

            “Shutting up now.”

            The door to the bus opens, and out comes Eleanor with wallet and keys in hand.

            “Are you guys ready?” She asks.

            We nod and start off to her car. I keep pace, walking right beside Eleanor while Louis trails slightly behind. We get pretty close to her car when I realize something.

            “Hey idiot.” I call back to Louis.

            “Oi! Why is everyone being so mean to me today?” He replies.

            “Well I call them like I see them. And you are forgetting something.”

            “Oh yeah miss smarty pants. Tell me what do you think I’m forgetting.”

            “Your car keys.”

            “What? Why would I…” A look of realization passes over his face. “Oh right.” He turns around and starts jogging back to the bus, calling behind him, “Text me the address and I’ll see you guys there.”

            “Okay!”

            “How has he gotten away with murder for so long by being such a dumbass?” Eleanor sarcastically questions.

            I roll my eyes at her. She unlocks the car and we climb in. As soon as I buckle up, she pulls out of her spot and heads towards the exit. The drive to where she is staying is silent except when I asked her for the address to send Louis but it’s a comfortable silence instead of the awkward ones I’m used to. The ride was fairly quick and before I knew it, we had pulled into the driveway. Eleanor quickly parks the car and I step out, gawking at the size of the house.

            “Holy shit El. This place is huge!” I tell her.

            “I know. My friend is crazy rich. I should introduce you to her sometime, she’s really nice, you’d love her.”           

            “Come on we better not wait around for Louis. He’ll probably take forever.”

            She nodded in agreement and led me into the house. The interior of the house was just as grand as the outside. But I didn’t really try to focus on my surroundings; I have more important things to focus on. I needed to seize the opportunity I had been given.

            “So Louis is your favorite band member?” I ask as I follow her up the stairs.

            Eleanor freezes in her tracks. Realizing her mistake she quickly resumes walking trying to brush it off. “What? Psh no. My favorite is…umm…Niall.”

            I scoff. “Yeah right.”

            “Okay fine. But I’m only telling you this cause I still feel guilty and you’ve been so nice to me.” She stopped once again but this time in front of what I assume is a bedroom. She opens the door and goes in with me following closely behind. She takes a breath before turning back to me. “He is.”

            “I knew it! Niall owes me ten quid!” I exclaim, slightly jumping up and down.

            “You bet on it with Niall?!?”

            “No! What kind of person do you think I am? I bet on something else with Niall.”

            “What?”

            “Whether Louis is in love with you and you are in love with him.” I mumble as softly under my breath as possible.

            “What did you say?”

            I smile, “Nothing!”

            “No, I know you—“

            “We should really start packing. Do you really want Louis to pack your knickers?”

            She gives me a glare but it quickly disappears when she realizes that I’m right. And with that we get to work, packing as quickly as we can before Louis comes and keeps us here forever. I have no idea why we though it was a good idea to let Louis come and help us out. He’d goof around; suck Eleanor into his antics and then nothing would get done. Even with just the two of us, we got done rather quickly. It was probably because Eleanor didn’t have as much stuff as I thought she would. _I’ve spent one to many trips with Jess._ We started bringing her bags down the stairs, placing them next to the door. I sat down on the steps waiting for Louis while Eleanor did a final sweep around the house to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. Suddenly the doorbell rings. I get up from my spot on the steps and head towards the door. I open it to find Louis standing there.

            “Took you long enough.” I tell him.

            He looks a little ashamed as he replies, “I got lost.”

            “Of course you did.” I move out of the way, so he can walk through the door. “Since you didn’t help pack at all. You can load up the car.”

            “Fair enough.” He says while grabbing Eleanor’s bags. “Where is kidnapper by the way?”

            “Doing a sweep of the house. I’m going to go help her so we can get going.”

            “Why aren’t I doing a sweep? You’re too trusting of her. I would be able to find and set free the people she has trapped here.”

            I rolled my eyes at him. “Hush up and go load up the car.”

            He did so, but grumbled, while he carried out Eleanor’s bags.

            “El!” I call out.

            “What?” She screams back.

            “Where are you?”

            “The kitchen.”

            “Uh….”

            “Pass the stairs and to the left.”

            “Thank you!” I yell back as I head off in the direction she told me. The kitchen is huge, looking to have everything needed to be a top of the line gourmet kitchen. Eleanor was taking food out of shelves and placing it on the counter. “What are you doing?”

            “Grabbing some of the food I bought so I can have it to eat on the tour bus.” She replies.

            “El we have snacks on the bus.”

            “But do you have this?” She holds up a plastic jar with a white label and cap. My eyes widen as I realize what she is holding.

            “Is that...”

            She nods her head, “Nutella.”

            “OMG! Yes!” I’m so excited, I fist pump. “We haven’t been able to get some yet. You’ve got to be careful though. I left the one I brought with me on the counter and when I came back Niall had eaten the whole thing.”  
            “I’ll be sure to hide it then. Don’t tell Louis. It will be our little secret.”

            “Don’t tell Louis what?” Louis asks walking into the kitchen.

            “Impeccable timing as always Lewis.” I say trying to distract him as Eleanor puts the nutella in her purse. He glares at me. “It was nothing. Just girl stuff.”

            “So? I don’t see why you can’t tell me?”

            “You’re a girl now? Zayn was right all along.”

            “Hey! That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Louis protests. “I meant I have a lot of sisters, so whatever it is doesn’t bother me. Low blow Allie, low blow.”

            “If you are done yapping Louise. We should be getting back.”

            He shot me a death glare while Eleanor giggled at his new nickname. As in true Louis fashion, he stormed off leaving Eleanor and I to grab the bags of food.

            “That was a good one Allie.” Eleanor tells me.

            “I know right! I can’t wait to tell Zayn.” I laugh. We both continue laughing as we grab the two bags of food that Eleanor decided was good enough to save and headed back to the entry way. I wasn’t surprised at all when we didn’t find Louis there waiting for us. _He’s probably in the car pouting._ We headed out the front door to see a black suv parked in the driveway with Louis sitting in the front seat.

            “Yes! He’s sitting in the car pouting! Who was right? Me that’s who! Woo hoo go me!” I exclaimed.

            “What?” Eleanor asks, looking very confused.

            “Whoops, did I say that out loud?” She nods and a faint blush works its way onto my cheeks. Feeling the need to escape, I grab the other bag from her and walk quickly to the car while she locks the front door. Deciding to be nice to Louis for a little bit, I climbed into the back seat of the car, leaving the front seat open for Eleanor to sit.

            “Why are you back there?” Louis asks.

            “Remember this when you guys get married. I expect my awesomeness to be in your wedding speech.” I tell him.

            “What—“

            Just then Eleanor climbed into the car, slamming the door shut, effectively cutting off Louis.

            “Allie why are you back there?” Eleanor asks.

            Louis gives me a smug look, thinking he’s won. “Yeah, Allie why are you back there?”

            “It’s so I can lie down in the back. Unlike some people I helped Eleanor pack. It’s been a long day, so much exercise. I’m tired.” I tell them, giving Louis a quick smirk before Eleanor can see. _Look who’s triumphant now. Don’t mess with the Queen peasant._

            The car ride was surprisingly quiet for once. _A quiet cart ride with Louis in the car, something must be terribly wrong. OMG he’s sick! He must be dying! Or he could just be licking his wounds after the beating I gave him. Yeah that must be it. He’s such a child, always pouting when he doesn’t get his way._ I settled in my seat with a smug look on my face for the remainder of the car ride. Eventually my eyes did start to droop and I found myself struggling to stay awake every now and then. _Damn, I’m a lot more tired than I originally thought. Why is it taking so long? We should have been there by now. It’s probably because Louis got lost again. This reminds me of…_

**_****************************A Year Ago**********************************_ **

_Louis starts screaming, crying hysterically._

_“Lou, calm down.” I tell him._

_“NO! You don’t understand. We’re dead! We’re lost and we’re dead! We’ve been going in circles for hours! I don’t know where the house is and it’s starting to get dark! Quick call the police! Omg! I can’t breathe! I’m hyperventilating!”_

_I gave him a look, “Louis, I can see the house from here. Calm down.”_

**“** _Don’t you tell me to calm down! You’re wrong! If you don’t think I know what I’m talking about—“ I pointed in the direction of the house. He turned and looked seeing that I was right and the house was just over to the left a few minutes away. He stands there for a moment before turning back to me with a weird look on his face. Suddenly he exclaims, “I’ve done it! I’ve saved us! You’re welcome Allie. Psh, I told you not to freak out.” I glared at him. Not taking the hint he continued, “You’re welcome. Just saved your life, no big deal. It’s just what any man like myself would do.”_

_“A man, huh.”_

_“That’s right.”_

_I smirk, teasingly saying, “So crying hysterically is what a man does? Or was it that your masculinity was so much that you just had to let it out in tears?”_

_“Exactly.” He starts fake crying and says in a high-pitched girly voice, “Omg you like so totally like get me Britney!”_

****************************************************************************

I start laughing hysterically, at the thought of what happened that night.

            “Why is she laughing?” Eleanor asks.

            “I don’t know.” Louis replies. He leans closer fake whispering to her, “Don’t mention her condition. She’s slowly going insane. It always starts with the laughing. Then it goes to the need to kill. Just ask the Joker!”

            “I knew it.”

            “Knew what?”

            “I always find the crazies. I mean just look at yourself.”

            “I know—“ He stops realizing what she said. “Hey! Do I look crazy to you?”

            “Yes.” We both reply.

            He starts to pretend to tear up, “This is what friendship is.”

            We laugh at his antics and eventually he joins in as well. After we all calm down, we finally arrive back at the venue. Louis quickly parks the car and we all get out. I take the food in while Louis and Eleanor grab her bags from the trunk.

            “Is that everything?” I ask.

            “I think so.” Louis replies.

            I turn towards the bus, “Okay then back into the dragon’s lair.”

            I took a deep breath, praying that she wouldn’t be there. I walk onto the bus, holding the door open for Louis and Eleanor who are following behind me. I step further into the bus as soon as Louis is able to continue to hold open the door for Eleanor. I look around and to my relief no one is around except for Niall who is lounging on the couch in a pair of grey joggers, white Nikes and a white muscle tee, showing off his biceps. I let my eyes wander over him a bit too much. _Niall is cute. Maybe…NO!_ I shake my head, trying to get those thoughts out of it. I will not go down that road again. I can’t loose him too. It will only end up in heartbreak and this time it might kill me. I dropped the bags of food onto the kitchen counter letting, Eleanor take care of hiding it. I then went over to where Niall was sitting, plopping down on his lap. He let out a groan.

            “You couldn’t have given me a warning?” He asks.

            I smile, “Nope.”

            “You’re lucky I like you lard-butt.”

            “Excuse me? I don’t think you have any room to call me that. Especially since your butt is bigger then mine.”

            “So you’ve been checking out my butt eh?”

            A slight blush heated up my cheeks, while I sat there gaping like a fish. He laughed at me being rendered speechless. Finally able to find my voice and words, I spoke, “Shut up Horan.”

            “Ouch that comeback was vicious.”

            I glare at him. “Fine then I will go tell my amazing story to someone else.”

            I move off of him, standing up. He reaches out grabbing me by the hand. I look at him as he stares at me pleading with his eyes. “No, no wait. I’m sorry. Please tell me your amazing story. You’re the best story teller I know Allie.”

            I sigh, giving in. _Stupid big blue eyes._ “Fine.”

            “Yay!” He exclaims. “Wait I need to get comfortable.” He pulls me back into his lap, positioning me so that he can look into my face. He then wraps his arms around me.

            I give him a look, “Really?”

            “I’m comfortable, you may begin.” He says flashing me a smile. _Damnit he’s being adorable. This isn’t fair. Stay strong Allie._

I take a deep breath, “No questions until the end, got it?”

            He nods his head and I tell him all about my encounter with the techie. I left out the part about Jess, knowing it would only upset Niall and he try to do something about it. I’m an adult and I don’t need to be tattling on Jess to people. I can handle my own problems. He seemed very engrossed in what I was saying, laughing at bits here and there. He was a much better listener than Louis. He stayed true to his word and didn’t ask any questions. He fell silent towards the end and didn’t speak until I finished.

            “Why didn’t you punch him?” He asks.

            “No…Nah, that’s not how it’s done. If they kiss you and it’s unwanted you slap them. If they grope you, then you punch them and kick them in the crotch. And if you have pepper spray you spray that shit in their eyes. Then you run like there is no tomorrow.”

            He stares at me wide-eyed in horror, “Why do you know this? Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

            “That’s right fear me.” I say while trying to do an intimidating face.

            We burst into laughter at my failed attempt at being intimidating.

            “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” A voice says. We stop laughing and turn to see Jess standing there with her arms crossed and a smirk on her lips. I blush, starting to feel uncomfortable on Niall’s lap and try to move off of him. But Niall holds onto me tighter, making me unable to leave.

            “First Louis, then my boyfriend and now Niall, when will it end Allie? You seem to have a problem with making a move on all your guy friends.”            

            Eleanor walks in from the kitchen area, probably finished from hiding all the food. The confused look on her face is enough to know that she heard everything.

            “Louis? Eleanor asks. Her eyes widen a bit and her lips form a sudden oh as she puts two and two together. She looks towards me, her eyes silently asking if Louis was the guy friend I was talking about at the mall. I nod, giving her the answer I don’t think she wanted to hear. Her face fell a bit but quickly realized what she was doing and made her expression go neutral.

            Before Jess can continue and probably answer Eleanor in some bitchy way. Louis comes sauntering in.

            “You called kidnapper?” He stops, seeing Jess and turns to see the look on Eleanor’s face and mine. A look of understanding passes over him. He turns to Jess and tells her “Go f*ck off annoying.”           

            She gasps, “Why you—“

            “No, no you go bye bye now. I told you to f*ck off. That was your cue to leave. Go bother someone else who hasn’t realized that you aren’t worth anyone’s time yet.”

            She screams out in frustration before storming off.

            Niall shakes his head, “Someone’s got anger problems.”

            “You can say that again.” Louis says.

            Tired of Jess ruining my good mood again, I try to regain it as quickly as possible. “New topic!” I exclaim. “Where’s Liam and Zayn?”

            “Zayn got some spray cans and a canvas and went outside to paint it. Liam…huh, I can’t remember where Liam said he was going.” Niall replies.

            “Not fair. They probably don’t have to worry about getting confused with some crazy fan.”

            “What?” Louis asks.

            “I’ll tell you later.” I tell him. “Oh, by the way Niall you owe me ten quid.”

            I try to get up but Niall still won’t let go.

            “Why does Niall owe you money and why can’t you tell me now?” Louis whines. “I want to know now. The suspense is killing me!”

            “You just found out a second ago.”

            “A second too long!”

            I roll my eyes at him. “Niall let me go please.”

            “No. I don’t want to. I’m comfortable.”

            “Niall, I need to go to the bathroom.”

            He blushes, looking at me sheepishly, “Oh sorry.”

            He releases me and I finally can stand up without him pulling me back down.

            “I’ll be right back.” I tell them. I start to make my way to the bathroom when someone I haven’t seen all day finally makes an appearance.

            “Hey Harry,” I say.

            His face formed into a puzzled look, clearly shocked at my normalcy towards him. He stops walking when he gets close enough causing me to stop as well so that I don’t get too close to him. He spoke as if the words that were going to come from his mouth were going to set me off, “Allie, I think we need to talk.” He reaches out for my arm and I move slightly out of his reach. I don’t want him to touch me. I won’t let him sway me in any way.

            I scrunched my face up in mock confusion. “About what?”

            “The kiss last night.” He said, looking expectantly at me.

            “The kiss? What kiss?”

            His face fell, which made me genuinely confused, before masking away the hurt. Which he did a good job of, and I would have never guessed if I had not still seen it there in his eyes. _What the hell does he have to be hurt about?_ I tried my best to keep my anger at bay and keep the confused expression on my face.

            “Don’t you remember?”, he asks.

            “No…wait...” I pretended to think about it for a while. “Oh now I know what you’re talking about. It completely slipped my mind.” I giggled. He looked a little downtrodden. _Probably thinks he ruined our friendship even more. Well guess what jackass, you did!!_

            “I think we need to talk about what happened.”

            “Why?” I ask. He goes to answer but I don’t let him. My voice coming off harsher than I intended as I say, “There’s nothing to talk about. It meant nothing remember?” _Damnit Allie. You were unaffected by it remember?_ I side step around him, keeping out of his reach as I return to walking towards the bathroom. Not once do I turn to look back at him. I turn my back on him, leaving him just like he left me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it. Just to let you know I usually update on Wattpad first. My Wattpad username is the same, 1DinNeverland. Thanks again for reading.


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